Waking Up Whiny

Waking up Whiny: What Lipgloss Teaches about Life

This morning was a strange event for me. Let me explain: I'm typically a morning person during seasons of routine and order in my life. And I'm (for the most part) a go-getter, once I finally make it out of bed on my not-so-structured-summer mornings as well. But this morning was different.

For some strange reason, I woke up whiny. Thankfully, I'm currently living roommate-less, so no one was around to see or hear me. (To clarify, I wasn't talking aloud to myself. The whininess was really more revealed in my attitude and thoughts. But still.)

If you're anything like me, you probably forget all-the-time the presence of the Lord. And how it is He that is always with you. He, Who always goes before you. He, Who is a a Shelter in the times of storm. He, Who is your Rear-guard and your Defender. He, Who overwhelms and satisfies your soul. He, Whose joy gives you strength. He, Whose salvation brings you hope. And He, Whose omnipresence hears, sees, and knows all of your whiny-wake-up-moments. Yet, He loves you just the same.

As least, I know I  temporarily forgot all of those things this morning.

So, here I am, this morning, waking up all-six-year-old-and-whiny-like. Some may call it "waking up on the wrong side of the bed." Some may even remedy it by going back to bed. Any way you call it or any way you look at it, my attitude had nothing to do with my bed, the amount of rest I had last night, or any of my surrounding circumstances at all. This morning, my attitude had everything to do with ME.

And I'm not talking about the outside ME that everyone sees smiling and somewhat put-together. I'm talking about the inside ME that only God and I see and know. The ME that never seems to be all put-together.

It gets worse. You may be wondering, "What made you so whiny this morning?" I'm not really glad you asked, but here goes…

The source of today's pouty-ness was so trivial that I'm embarrassed to share it, but I feel the need to share because of what God taught me through it.

The reason I woke up whiny this morning is this: I noticed this morning as I was getting ready for the day that I am rapidly running out of my favorite lip gloss. There it is. That's what controlled me this morning.

To further explain, I only own one lip gloss and once that's done, then I'm onto the reserves of chap-stick. Chap-stick is a winter necessity, not a summer commodity. Just as I was getting my panties in a wad over how expensive life was getting to be these days and the inconvenience of having to get some more $6-$8 lipgloss, God convicted me. Here's what He told my heart:

It's not about the sheen on your lips, Rosemary.

It's about the sheen over your heart.

You see, right around the same time of my horrible-attitude-over-lipgloss-for-crying-out-loud fiasco this morning, a friend texted me, thanking me for my prayers for her sick-and-dying family pet. Another friend mentioned how sweet she thought I was for offering to help with packing and moving. And a third (Yes, God really drove His point home to me via friend text messages this morning!) text came through, acknowledging thanks for my friendship and godly example over the years. 

All that to say this: It's as easy to throw a sheen on our hearts, pretending everything's okay, as it is to apply lip gloss and look good for the world around us. At the end of the day, the lip gloss fades. (News Flash: You'll eventually have to buy more. Sigh.) Heart-attitudes surface. What you once thought would be concealed and hidden will be exposed and open for all to plainly see.

Despite the Godly friendships in my life and the compliments via text messages this morning, my heart was rotten. My attitude was stinky. My right standing with God set off on the wrong foot this morning. And my God was ever-faithful and loving enough to let me know about it.

After acknowledging all of this and being convicted this morning, I had no where else to turn but David's cry/prayer in Psalm 51:10. Here it is in the KJV translation: 

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

(Warning: The grammar teacher inside of me is about to have class.)

Re-read those sentences.

Notice the action verbs: create and renew.

Who is the subject of these thoughts?

God is, right?

Notice what it's all about. It's not about us covering the undesirable parts with a sheen. 

It's about Him creating something new inside of us, making us clean.

(You're welcome for that rhyme, but seriously.)

It's about Him renewing a right spirit inside of us, as we ask, beg, and call upon Him to do so.

Whether it's lip gloss or layers of heart sheen, in both instances, know that He already knows what's underneath.

Stop waking up cranky over things as petty as lip gloss (or fill-in-the-blank), and join with me in allowing Him to do His work in our hearts today.