Complaining 2

Nehemiah 8:10: Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

To reverse the truth of that passage we might say: The absence of the joy of the Lord is your weakness.

Every complaint is a complaint about the Lord. For the most part, complainers don*t know they are complaining about the Lord. When we recognize that God is in charge of everything we recognize that He is the one who permitted that thing that we are complaining about. Complaining is a habit of the flesh. Complaining is the opposite of praise. Complainers insult God by complaining because they either do not recognize His power or they insult Him because they believe that He is unloving and doesn*t care about what bothers them.

I am acquainted with a man who occasionally visits the church I attend. I*ll call him D. We usually sit in the same area. When I chat with D after the worship service all he wants to do is complain. He always brings a wet blanket with him to church. I must confess that when he doesn*t show up I am relieved. But I do know that he needs to be in church more often to experience the love of God. Do you know anyone like that?

D claims to be a Christian but I*m not certain that he is. It seems that he wants to convince me that God is bad because He has permitted some difficulties in D*s life. It seems that D wants to discourage me that life stinks but I refuse to be discouraged. I want to encourage him that the Lord makes life better and he refuses to be encouraged.

By his complaining he tells me that life stinks unless he gets what he wants. By my praising the Lord I tell him that life stinks unless we get what the Lord wants. Neither of us convinces the other. He wants to complain about the Lord. I want to praise the Lord. He wants God to knuckle under and do things his way. I want God to humble me and do things His way. Neither of us has much of a stomach to listen to the other.

It seems he wants to take away my joy and my strength. I want him to be joyful and strong. (If he is a Christian.)

Neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Care to discuss Complaining 2 with Ron?

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