Remember the old saying that “you can complain about the weather, but you can’t do anything about it”? This is an example that one of the dictionaries in our office used, and I quote: “The general word ‘complain’ means to express discontent with something; an example is that ‘he is always complaining about the weather.’” No complaint will “fix” the weather. Sure, every one of us at some time has complained of being too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry, but that doesn’t change a thing.
God had a reason for all seasons of the year. Listen to what the “preacher” wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, that to every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, to die; to plant, to pluck up; to kill, to heal; to break down, to build up; to weep, to laugh; to mourn, to dance; cast away stones and to gather stones; to embrace and to refrain from embracing; to get, to lose; to keep, to cast away; to rend, to sew; to be silent, to speak; to love, to hate; a time of war and a time of peace. I believe that almost every emotion and feeling that humans can experience are included in some form in this. That’s the human side of life!
Perhaps many of us have felt like the psalmist when he said in Psalm 77:1-3, “I cried to God and He gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord; my soul refused to be comforted; I remembered God and was troubled. I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed.” Are we guilty sometimes of wanting comfort and answers, but we are not willing to accept the answers? Following is a beautiful piece that should give comfort to all our troubled souls as we voice complaints of any sort.
Never once did our Lord have a path free from trouble. When He went into the wilderness, He was tempted of the Devil. When He tried to rest, the multitudes followed Him. When He taught in the synagogue, the hearers became angry and sought to throw Him off the brow of the hill. When He gave others rest for their souls, He had no place to lay His head. When He sought peace in the garden, they came with swords and staves and led Him away to the halls of judgment. When He did His best to be kind and loving in the face of mockery, they took Him as a sheep to the slaughter and drenched Calvary with His precious blood. Yet, in spite of it all, He never grumbled about His burden. Jesus did not complain at all! He just went about doing good. Let us be like Him! The busiest are the happiest. Cheerful, active labor is a blessing. The busy, the active, the happy, the cheerful—they don’t have time to complain! (Bulletin Gold)
Did you see what the solutions to complaining are? First of all, Jesus had a sole purpose in mind. Remember when his family left home and went to observe the feast in Jerusalem? When His parents left Jerusalem to return home, they assumed Jesus was with the company and didn’t know any different until they had gone a day’s journey. They went back to Jerusalem to look for Him and found Him in the Temple, hearing and answering questions. Mary asked Him why He had done this to them, saying they had suffered sorrow because of it. His response was, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). Jesus’ whole life was spent in doing God’s business. The first solution to complaining is to stay busy doing the “Father’s business.”
The second solution to complaining is to go about doing good. This isn’t to say that “doing good” isn’t the Father’s business. Everything about doing good is God’s business. If one stays busy doing good, there won’t be time to complain. There’ll be no time to look inwardly and dwell on one’s own calamities. Thinking of others was what Jesus did. He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38).
God will bless Christians as they “abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). No one will get to Heaven by selfishly looking out for No. 1 and ignoring the needs of others, and that includes both their physical and spiritual needs. Christians will always strive to stay busy doing God’s will and be blessed by doing so. Maybe we need to quit complaining and go to work!
