So we all come from a long line of complainers. Sorry, but we do. All of us. That’s just what humans do, we act like humans – imagine that! I’ve been grumbling a lot lately – Too hot. Too cold. Stinkbugs! Too busy. Too much. Too little. Too late. Too early. Too tired. Too hyper. Too much fighting. Not enough fighting. Too much politics. I think I’m getting a cold! Too much work. Not enough work. Winters’s a comin. Summer’s a comin. Fruit flies! Those people from the east. Those people from the west. It’s raining. It’s snowing. That driver on the highway. That driver on the backroad. I don’t like… I wanna… They shoulda… I’m gonna…
Those are just a few things I’ve said in the past week. When I put it on paper, it makes me wonder – who would even want to be around me? I don’t even want to be around me! Who wants to be around someone who grumbles and complains all the time? For me, grumbling is a huge sin. Oh sure, I can couch it – make a complaint, followed by a but and a smile…I’m really only fooling myself, not even. We grumblers and complainers are good justifiers – we’re not complaining, just making a statement or an observation, not even. We grumblers and complainers are also looking for allies, aren’t we? It’s really deflating to grumble and complain to someone and be met with joy, isn’t it?
Do all things without grumbling or complaining, that you may be blameless and innocent…
Philippians 2:14
Why is it important? Why does it matter? Because we are to live Christ. Christ never grumbled or complained. In fact “He never said a mumbling word.” Christ spoke life to all. What do we speak? What we speak directly impacts His reputation, you know that, right? How are we doing? Ouch! Sorry!
The thing we have to remember is that God is in control. He is sovereign over all things. Not just some, but all. Every complaint we make calls into question God’s sovereignty. How’d that turn out for Job?
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
Colossians 1:15-17
The workload is the workload, because God allowed it. The season’s are the season’s, because God allowed them. It snowed, because God allowed it. The traffic is heavy, because God allowed it. The President’s the President, because God allowed it. The sun shines because God allowed it. There are fruit flies and stinkbugs, because God allowed. Illness… Death… Absolutely nothing happens without God’s permission. Nothing.
So, if God is Sovereign over all, what does it say when I grumble or complain? What does it say to God? What does it say about God? What does it say about me? What does it say about my faith in God?
Some are saying that those little comments about weather, about busyness, about the line at the store, about the clerk who was having a bad day, about customer service, and so on and so on are just comments made, we don’t mean anything by them. Then why would we say something we don’t mean? What comes out of our lips is straight from our hearts. Our words reflect our heart condition. Ouch! Sorry!
But the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. And they are what make you unfit to worship God.
Matthew 15:18
Life is hard, no doubt about it. Here’s the thing. We are not living our lives for us, we are living our lives for Christ. If we look at it with that lens, we may be better able to keep our attitudes in check. The message isn’t come to Jesus and we won’t have anything to complain about. That’s not reality. The message is that when we come to Jesus He equips us to handle all those things we so easily grumble and complain about. So, what are we reflecting to the world? Life’s hard and complaining about it means I’m ill equipped to handle it? Or, life’s hard but because Christ lives in me, I chose not to complain about it because I know where my help comes from?