"Thank God For The Dirty Dishes" Poem

I decided to give full poem written by Cecelia Williams and shared by her Pastor son John Williams III on on the Sermon Central Illustrations section. This was used in the sermon I preached Sunday Oct. 14 on "Complaining".

Rev. John Williams III shares this:

"My natural mother once wrote a poem about being thankful that I have always treasured since I discovered it. She died in 1984 with s

kin cancer. But, all that I learned from her is still with me today. I thank God for every memory and every valuable lesson that she taught me about life.
Her Poem went like this…

Thank God for dirty dishes,
They have a tale to tell.
While other folks go hungry,
We’re eating very well.
With home and health and happiness
We should not want to fuss.
For by this stack of evidence,
God is very good to us.
(Cecelia D. Williams)

It is often that stack of evidence that we so often forget or slight because we are too busy fussing or complaining."

Think Again About Complaining

Today I preached from Numbers 11 on the theme of Complaining. In Numbers 11 it tells of a chain reaction that occurred related to complaining.

During the Exodus some fringe people complained about the food God provided, then the Jews themselves complained, Moses ,the leader, complained and wanted to die and God Himself became discouraged and angry at the whole situation.

The point--- be careful  about complaining- you could set off a chain reaction of negative responses around you.

More importantly - Complaining is often rejection of God's path for your life and rejection of God trying to fine tune your trust in Him.

Be careful- Complaining is a downward spiritual path.

Be thankful for the dirty dishes - it shows you had food to eat! (paraphrase- Cecilia Williams)