Do everything without complaining … — Philippians 2:14
I don’t know about you, but complaining comes easily for me. Especially when I’m tired, cranky and irritable. But the Lord taught me something about complaining one day that I want to share with you.
I was upset. In the Bible, Jonah was angry enough to die, and I could relate. So I got away for a walk in the country. I thought I would pour out my complaint to God.
I started my prayer like this. "I don’t mean to complain … "
(I was planning to add, " … but … " and then complain anyway.)
But the Lord stopped right there. "Then don’t," He said.
Now I need to explain that the Lord has never been harsh or condemning with me. And this was no exception. When He said, "Then don’t," I didn’t feel as though I had been put down. Rather I felt, "Wow, You mean I don’t need to complain?"
There was a pause, and then the Lord added, "Don’t complain, but you can tell Me what you want."
This put everything in a whole different perspective for me. Immediately, I could see that complaining revealed a complete lack of faith — Here I am, burdened down with troubles, and God is so mean He doesn’t care enough to do anything about it. But telling God what I want showed that I was beginning to understand who God really is. God is my Father who satisfies my desires with good things.
So I told Him what I wanted. It was a list of things that I knew I couldn’t have, but I told Him anyway, and I thanked Him for satisfying those desires with good things.
I didn’t get any of those things on that list — they weren’t wrong, necessarily, but the timing wasn’t right for any of them. But I did get something better. I got the peace and light heartedness that I thought those things on the list would give me. For the rest of the day, I was much happier — my circumstances didn’t change, but God changed me.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
Dwight Clough is the author of four Christian books and is an active member of Lake City Church in Madison. This devotional is also available via email and you may review the archives back to 2002. To contact Dwight or Kim, use their contact form. You may also support their ministry.