Complaining

Every time I read about the children of Israel in the Old Testament, I am so amazed by HOW MUCH they complain and HOW QUICKLY they forget! It is almost unbelievable. It seems like a few days don't pass without something they "need" or something they are frustrated by. My heart goes out to Moses and Aaron, as they attempt to lead a people who are so quick to speak negatively about everything, how frustrating it must have been. And yet, the more I read about this stubborn and forgetful nation, the more and more I see how I so often resemble their behavior in my own life; oh how often do I complain?!

Complaining is such a common part of our culture and our own lives that we as Christians often forget what it truly is. Complaining is not to be overlooked or accepted, but rather must be viewed as God views it...as sin. Every complaint, whether big or small, is an offense to a holy God. It is a selfish belief that you know better, that God has not given you what He knows to be the best for you and what is good for you, but rather that He has messed up in some way. What may have seemed like such a "respectable'' sin, is in reality, revealing the wickedness of our flesh.

Paul, in Philippians 2:14 says, "Do EVERYTHING without complaining or arguing."

The word complain in the original language is the word goggysmos which means: a murmmer, muttering, a secret debate, a secret displeasure. Interesting that the Old Testament describes the complaints of the nation of Israel as "murmers or muttering", it simply was a constant complaining.

The believer must ask himself/herself...do I complain? I would venture to say that the answer from 99.9% of you would be yes, and for the majority of you it would be a daily struggle. We complain about the weather, about waking up, about traffic, about the spilled coffee, about the service we received at the store...and the list goes on. Complaints become a normalcy in our speech, in our attitude, and in our heart. This is unfortunate, and I beg you to examine your heart, examine your thoughts, examine your behavior, and measure it to the command of the Lord; do you do EVERYTHING without complaining? If you have answered no, then you are not alone, I stand beside you and admit my weakness in this area, as shaming as it is. But there is great hope in the Gospel of Jesus and the power of the Spirit living within.

So what are we to do to battle the sin of complaining?

RECOGNIZE and REPENT
As with all sin, we need to recognize it. If we don't call sin sin, we will fail to notice it more and more in our daily lives and begin living in consistent disobedience to the Lord. We must pray for a sensitivity to the sin in our lives and call it what it is. Once we recognize it, we can then repent of it. God calls us to repent, to turn away from, the sin that so easily entangles us. We must pray and fight to notice complaining in our lives and repent of it when it happens.

REMEMBER
A great way to guard against the constant complaining is to remember the faithfulness of God in our own lives and in the lives of those in the past (like that of the nation of Israel). The more we remember His goodness, His providence, His faithfulness, ultimately His character, the less likely we will be to complain.

GIVE THANKS
Gratitude should be a mindset for the believer. We have SO much to be thankful for and yet we instead take things for granted. We need to turn our complaining into thanksgiving. Instead of recognizing the cup as "half empty", let us see it as "half full". A heart full of gratitude leaves little room, if any, for complaining.

With that said, may our hearts be full of joy and thanks continually, through the power of the Spirit living within us. Let our light shine before men through the way we speak and behave. In a world full of constant complaints, may we be one who gives constant thanks!