It’s easier to grumble than fix the problem. Case in point. While it is not politically correct to mock the religion of anyone else, Christians are often a target. What do I do about it? Complain? Whine about unfair press? Grumble and mumble?
Psalm 2 shows this is not a new problem: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.”
People have opposed God since Adam hid from Him in the garden. All through the Old Testament, nations attacked those who trusted God because they hated God. In the New Testament the early Christians suffered the same opposition simply because they believed in Christ. But they didn’t sit around complaining about it. They got on their knees and did the first action recommended by God when things are not right; they took the problem to Him.
“Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
God sometimes intervenes and fixes what we don’t like without anything else from us, but not always. This time He gave them a part: “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
Asking the Lord for help might result in Him asking me to do something. However, it’s easy to read this verse and only see the part about “speaking the Word of God.” That’s scary. So are other solutions to all sorts of problems. What will God want of me? Yet He filled those first Christians with His Spirit and gave them the wherewithal to do it. With that, they began the great adventure recorded for us as the Acts of the Apostles.
When I’m tempted to complain about something, my husband’s words to complainers come to mind, “Do you want to be part of the problem? Or part of the solution?”
I still say complaining is easier and being part of the solution will always take more resources than I have, but wouldn’t life be far more interesting if I at least took step one?
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