Aside from crime and corruption, one of the common things you will see in the local news today is complaining. OFW’s, despite the fact that they are safe back home, or waiting for rescue in hotels outside Libya, complaining that it took the government too long to take them home, or of the food they are being served, or that our country could not send planes or soldiers like the British did. Drivers and commuters complaining about rising gas prices. People complaining about government officials. Complain, complain, complain…grumble, grumble, grumble. I guess that’s what makes it “news” – when we focus on the bad things, rather than on the good things we can be thankful about.
And it’s not just on television. In real life complaining is so much a part of our life. Yes, “our” lives, including mine! We like to complain about everything. Usually it is during times when things don’t go our way. We complain when the car in front of us is not driving as fast as we want. We complain when our salary is not as high as our friends salary. We complain when the food served in a restaurant is not as good as we thought it would be. Let’s face it – we’re all inborn complainers (hmmm, I wonder if there is such a word? Oh, there is! Just checked with the dictionary: A person given to excessive complaints and crying and whining). Yeah, we’re all complainers, although some of us in our own simple and quiet ways, but we all complain.
So what is the antidote to complaining? There’s a passage in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonica church that comes to mind:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ
BE JOYFUL ALWAYS. I’m not sure if you’ve ever noticed how being joyful affects how you react or respond to seemingly bad situations? When our hearts are filled with joy we tend to see everything in a “positive” way, more calm, more peaceful. That’s what joy does – it’s infectious. It fills and affects our hearts.
But it also depends on the source of joy. If our joy comes from temporary things, then that joy is also temporary. But if our joy comes from something, or Someone, eternal, then our hearts are also eternally affected.
Psalm 4:7 You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.
This is the kind of joy that fills our hearts so much that it stops us from having a complaining attitude. Don’t leave your home with out it! This is why it’s so important for us to be spending time, quality prayer time with the Giver of Joy.
PRAY CONTINUALLY. Prayer is not meant to make us get what we want. Those who pray for this reason still complain, because God does not always give us what we want. Prayer is meant for us to refocus our hearts on the One who is Sovereign, in charge of all circumstances surrounding our hearts. Prayer allows us to surrender, to trust, to entrust all of the situations we are in to the One who holds our life. Knowing that God is in charge will help curb that desire to complain.
Phil 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. It’s important to see what God is teaching us through this verse. It does not say “give thanks FOR all circumstances”, but it tells us to give thanks IN all circumstances. In other words, no matter what circumstance we may be in, we are asked by the Lord to have a heart that is always thankful. Of course bad circumstances will arise in our lives – but even when they do come we are to maintain an attitude of thankfulness. There is always something to be thankful for, and it is not necessarily within the circumstances you are in right now. And, there is always someone to be thankful about. Above all, we should always be thankful for the Sovereign God we have entrusted our lives to.
When you think about it, the sequence of the passage makes sense – when we are filled with joy, and pray to our Sovereign God, thankfulness will surely fill our hearts, no matter what the circumstance.
Phil 2:14-16 Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life--
Do everything without complaining or arguing. It shows who we are, what God has made us to be, and what our purpose in life should be – to shine like stars as we hold out the word of life!
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