THE ART OF COMPLAINING

Do everything without complaining or arguing.  Philippians 2:14  NIV

I just wrote a mini devotional on this verse:

Honestly, this verse, which John taught in class, has been in the back of my mind, mouth and heart since Sunday.  So many times I have questioned myself about whether or not I was issuing forth a complaint, or if it was just passing along information.  I may not always get the top grade, the best score, or even the most prizes - but folks, let me tell you - I get an A+ for complaining.  Every semester, every year, every decade, every class.  As I was walking out of class, came and told me he was the star student for this and if I wanted to learn how to get better at it, I could ask for tutoring! Complaining is a pastime.  It's a hobby, a skill which requires no additional training, no additional monies, no additional time in your life.  But what it takes is costly.  It takes our eyes off Jesus, it takes our faith and replaces it with doubt, it takes away our integrity, it takes away our peace, it is a thief of grand proportions.  And we let ourselves be robbed blind, even opening the door so the thief doesn't have to trouble himself with picking the lock. Why do we let such an enemy come, live and stay in our lives?  When Paul penned these words:  "Do everything without complaining," he was in prison, falsely accused, and languishing in a cell, attached to a prison guard day and night.  He knew suffering, he knew needs, he knew long days and even longer nights.  And yet he wrote (the nerve!!) these words which ring true to this day. Talk about convicting.  But if we want to see victory in our camp, then this is where the rubber meets the road.  Here.  Where the complaining needs to stop.  Why?  So we stop doubting the capability of God and believing He is enough, He is capable, and that He provides for His children.

 So here's the challenge: do 24 hours without complaining.  Not a week, or three days, or the dreaded month (!!!), but one 24-hour day.  Maybe this would break the cycle in our hearts and give us the freedom to fully trust Him.  Who's in this with me?

Since this blog is focused for the audience of sufferers, I would like to address this in light of suffering.  I know suffering.  I have experienced deep suffering.  I have not experienced all the types of suffering one can go through, but I know physical suffering, emotional trauma, betrayal, loneliness. 

How does one endure the hardships of life without complaining?  What is complaining exactly?  According to the 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, “complaining: participle present tense; Expressing grief, sorrow, or censure; finding fault; murmuring; lamenting; accusing of an offense."

As a noun it is: "The expression of regret, sorrow or injury.”

According to Kerry Sue, the definition of complaining: a pastime, a hobby in which one likes to spend time perfecting, this said hobby robs our faith in God and gives license to the enemy to enter into the believer’s life to wreak havoc if left unchecked.

Murmuring is costly – just ask the Israelites in the OT.  We see in Numbers 14:26-30:

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “How long will this wicked community grumble against Me?  I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites.  So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I have heard you say.  In the desert your bodies will fall – every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against Me.  Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Dire consequences.  Which spiraled out of control and led to so much more unrest, more complaining, wars, loss, captivity, and rejection by God because of the rebellion of the people.

The very nature of complaining, murmuring, leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth, and in the mouth of anyone who hears it.  It is a habit not taught, but caught.  It is a universal pastime which makes for trouble in a large-scale way.

So, how do we break the cycle?  How do we keep the complaints in our head and not in our mouths and spoken?  And then….how do we keep them from showing up, ever?

Cue:  Count Your Blessings, Name Them One by One.

A thankful heart is a trusting heart.  When we give thanks to God, we are telling Him we trust Him.  In that one area, but also in so many more.  We take our eyes off self, independence, stubbornness, pride, circumstances, and we can -

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.  Hebrews 10:23  NIV

Yes, we do not have to be in the rat maze of complaining.  We do not have to wander, with no way out.  We are given the way out:  Jesus.  He is the Author of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) and He desires for us to look to Him, only.

He hears and He knows.  So, what’s the big need to gripe about it?  Let us rest in Him so we can have the peace which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), daily.

PRAYER

Father, first, forgive me for all my complaining, all my murmuring, all my times of doubt and mistrust.  I truly repent and I ask for forgiveness.  I need You every hour. Every minute, every second.  You are my everything and I do not want to spend any second without You, or waste my time giving the enemy a foothold into my life through complaining..  Help me Lord.  And I do thank You for that help. AMEN