{"id":2267,"date":"2012-04-05T08:00:55","date_gmt":"2012-04-05T12:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=2267"},"modified":"2012-04-04T17:36:14","modified_gmt":"2012-04-04T21:36:14","slug":"stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html","title":{"rendered":"Stop Complaining and Get Out of That Spiritual Desert!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Ever feel like giving up?<\/p>\n

Discouragement comes easy sometimes. Our natural tendency is to feel defeated\u00a0 when things are tough. But Philippians 2:13-14 tells us that God works in us for His good pleasure, and that we are to do all things without complaining and disputing. He wants us to have His best for our lives.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t matter how dysfunctional your childhood was or how awful your current situation. If you trust God to complete what He started in you, He will. Years of criticism and negative judgement can be overcome by the cross. Invite God into whatever feels defeating right now.<\/p>\n

And most of all, stop complaining!<\/p>\n

Think about the biblical children of Israel. God miraculously intervened in their lives, freed them from slavery, parted the Red Sea and provided daily manna when they had no food. You know the story. Yet their response to the first sign of difficulty was to grumble and complain.<\/p>\n

Are we any different?<\/em><\/p>\n

When something goes wrong, we are quick to doubt God and let go of His Word. We tell ourselves we are unable to cope and begin to complain. Complaints lead to negative thinking and we feel defeated.<\/p>\n

The lesson from the Israelites is that their grumbling and complaining led them to wander in the wilderness for 40 more years and prevented them from entering the Promised Land. So, if you feel you are wandering in a spiritual and emotional desert, stop complaining about your life. It’s time to change that circular thinking and focus on hope. Take these three steps:<\/p>\n

1) Walk by faith, not sight. Don’t get caught up in the circumstances. Keep your eyes on God and what He says in His Word.<\/p>\n

2) Begin to praise God for who He is–healer, provider, strong tower, father to the fatherless, etc.<\/p>\n

3) Stand on His promises and thank Him for what He has done in the past and will do in the future! This is how you activate your faith. Stand. Believe!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Excerpt from Breaking Free from Negative Self-Image<\/a> (Siloam Press, 2002) by Dr. Linda Mintle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever feel like giving up? Discouragement comes easy sometimes. Our natural tendency is to feel defeated\u00a0 when things are tough. But Philippians 2:13-14 tells us that God works in us for His good pleasure, and that we are to do all things without complaining and disputing. He wants us to have His best for our…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[913,914,917,916],"tags":[1161,1164,304,1165,1163,1162,1160],"class_list":["post-2267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-couple-relationships","category-family-relationships-2","category-friend-relationships","category-god-relationship","tag-complaining","tag-defeated","tag-depression","tag-emotionally-distraught-relationship-with-god","tag-giving-up-down","tag-grumbling","tag-hopeless"],"yoast_head":"\nStop Complaining and Get Out of That Spiritual Desert!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stop Complaining and Get Out of That Spiritual Desert!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ever feel like giving up? Discouragement comes easy sometimes. Our natural tendency is to feel defeated\u00a0 when things are tough. But Philippians 2:13-14 tells us that God works in us for His good pleasure, and that we are to do all things without complaining and disputing. He wants us to have His best for our…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-05T12:00:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-04-04T21:36:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/04\/BFS_SelfImage_LG.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stop Complaining and Get Out of That Spiritual Desert!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stop Complaining and Get Out of That Spiritual Desert!","og_description":"Ever feel like giving up? Discouragement comes easy sometimes. Our natural tendency is to feel defeated\u00a0 when things are tough. But Philippians 2:13-14 tells us that God works in us for His good pleasure, and that we are to do all things without complaining and disputing. He wants us to have His best for our…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2012-04-05T12:00:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-04-04T21:36:14+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/04\/BFS_SelfImage_LG.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html","name":"Stop Complaining and Get Out of That Spiritual Desert!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/04\/BFS_SelfImage_LG.jpg","datePublished":"2012-04-05T12:00:55+00:00","dateModified":"2012-04-04T21:36:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/04\/BFS_SelfImage_LG.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2012\/04\/BFS_SelfImage_LG.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2012\/04\/stop-complaining-and-get-out-of-that-spiritual-desert.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stop Complaining and Get Out of That Spiritual Desert!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2267"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2271,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267\/revisions\/2271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}