Please Stop That Incessant Dripping!
Drip! Drip! Drip! That’s the sound of my shower. All the time. Every day. . .and night. In an attempt to put off running the air conditioner as long as possible, Jason and I have been opening the windows at night to let in the fresh cooler air. In our bedroom, however, the only windows are at the head of our bed and are covered by heavy drapes which block out the light from the nearby streetlight. So, instead of trying to work around the drape issue, we open the window in the attached bathroom and leave the bathroom door ajar. This would work great if not for the incessant dripping of the shower head. We’ve tried everything to get the crazy thing to stop dripping, but so far, we’ve had no success. Thus, we have two options: be stuffy or be annoyed. I don’t know which is worse!
The Bible talks about incessant dripping, but I’m afraid it’s not referring to leaky faucets. No, instead, it’s about our tendency to complain. Check it out:
“A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.”
“A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. ”
Now, I realize both of these verses are specifically talking about a woman, and I will readily admit that I know more complaining females than males. However, men, I don’t think it would do harm to the Scripture to say that contention, strife and complaints from anyone—male or female—is like a constant dripping. Is that fair?
As we’ve already established, incessant dripping is annoying, right? When was the last time you tried to escape a conversation because the person with whom you were speaking was voicing one complaint after another? The negativity grates on our nerves. What we often fail to realize is that we cause others to feel the same way when we throw our little pity parties.
Not only is the dripping (and complaining) annoying, but it wears us down. Interestingly enough, it’s wearing on both the one doing the complaining and the one hearing it. Did you know that a constant dripping of water can wear away soil and even stone? Yes, water can literally bore a hole in the earth. Complaining can wear away at us too. It can damage hearts and relationships. The constant negativity weighs us down and wears away at our faith, contentment and overall happiness. All of that from a bad attitude!
Life is not always easy, and for some reason, it’s easy for us to complain or cause strife when things aren’t going our way. But I urge you to take these verses to heart and think about the damage you are causing through your poor attitude and actions. You don’t want to be annoying or to wear others out with your constant negativity. Instead, shift your focus to God and find something for which to praise Him. Exchange those drips of complaints for showers of blessing!