“The whole Israelite community complained against Moses and Aaron in the
desert. ‘Who are we? Your complaints aren’t against us but against the Lord.’”
Exodus 16:2, 8b (Common English
Bible)
“Instead, we are
God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned
for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.’”
Ephesians 2:10 (Common English
Bible)
Among my natural gifts is the compulsion
to complain. I am not alone. Each church I have served has included similarly
endowed people. The compulsion to complain is a very familiar tendency that
appears on the stage of life. It may seem to have a relatively small role in
the unfolding drama of our life but it has the capacity to derail the whole
play. Complaining can empty our reserves of energy and diminish the ability to
see how God may be moving and directing our lives.
Moses had something to say about
complaining. Through Moses’ obedience to God, he led the people of Israel from
the bondage of slavery in Egypt into the wilderness – a journey that would culminate
in receiving God’s “promised land” that they would call home. But the time in
the wilderness would be difficult. Difficulty resulted in complaint. They
grumbled that there wasn’t enough food. They complained that there wasn’t
enough water. The days were hot and the nights too cold. After Moses had heard
enough he declared, “Your complaints aren’t against us but against the Lord.”
That is because it is God that is calling the people forward into a different
future. And sometimes our future requires the preparation of a wilderness.
Because of their complaining their
promised future was at risk. Their great vision of freedom and joy was slipping
away. More, their memory of slavery was not correctly remembered. They would
mumble among themselves how much better it was in Egypt. Nothing was in focus –
their future or their past. Now that is insight for a complainer to consider!
Complain about the weather if you must. Whine about the rising cost of medical
care if you need to vent. But complain about obstacles before you, difficulties
and challenges that confront you and problems and sorrows that trouble your
heart and Moses tells us that your complaint is against the Lord.
How does one change? Paul’s letter to the
Ephesians is helpful: change your focus! Rather than dwelling on what is wrong
in our world consider how God might use you to better it. We were “created in
Christ Jesus to do good things.” We were created not to belittle the world with
all its difficulties, we were created to better it. Take Paul’s word and make
it a great experiment for your life. Each morning pledge that you will not
complain. Rather, ask how I might make this a better world for others. When you
are confronted with personal hurts and difficulties ask, how might I learn and
grow from this; how might God be using this to prepare me for a future I cannot
now see? Then review yourself at the day’s close. How did you do? Obedience to
Paul’s words here in Ephesians, consistently applied each day, will have the
effect of diminishing the compulsion to complain.
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