Complain Complain Complain
By Tonya King
Have you ever found yourself complaining? I know I have. If it isn’t about the weather, it’s cleaning the house, or doing the laundry, or running errands. Virtually anything that goes on during my day, I can find a reason to complain about it. But, do you find that you don’t like to be around complainers? They can bring you down or simply annoy you. Have you ever thought that is how some people see you? Sobering thought isn’t it.
As much as we complain, have we ever stopped to ask forgiveness from God for our complaints? There are so many verses in the bible that speak about the Israelites complaining about God to Moses. So many times, Moses had to talk God out of destroying the Israelites. Many times, God punished the Israelites for complaining. I tend to forget about this during my complaint sessions.
How about you? If God took complaining so seriously in the Old Testament, how much more does He look upon it in our day? We see in the New Testament that the Scribes and Pharisees were constantly complaining to Jesus and the disciples about infractions they had committed. Jesus called them vipers. Woe, what would He call us.
Now I know we live under the blessing of grace and there is forgiveness for our sins, but have you knelt before God and repented of your complaining? I never thought about this until the other day when I heard someone ask this question. I thought about it and could honestly answer NO! How terrible. God has given me everything I could ever hope for and I find reason to complain. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Complaining is powerful and it is catchy. Once I begin to complain, I can usually find someone who will jump or board and complain with me. The adage “misery loves company” is so true. But what if I turn that around and start praising God for the housework that needs done, because I have a house. Or if I praise Him for the weather, rain or snow, because it waters the ground and gives creation a rest. There are so many things to be grateful for and when we start to complain, we need to turn that around and find the praise within our words.
We need to change our attitudes to one of gratefulness and appreciation for all that God has given us. We need to be less like the Israelites and more like Jesus, who in everything, gave thanks. And we need to get down on our knees and ask forgiveness each time a complaint enters our minds, even before we speak it. I think we will start to live a more victorious life if we will put this into practice.
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