Why complaining is a sin…

 

When I complain about how busy I am, it contains a bit of boasting. My dad used to put down those ‘lazy people’ who didn’t work hard, so I grew up considering busyness was a virtue. But now, that to-do list is overwhelming and seems more like a curse than a blessing. 

But this morning, God rebukes me for the sin of complaining using the words of Stephen Charnock about the goodness of God and quotes from the Bible. The first is a reminder of where all good comes from: “I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.’ ” (Psalm 16:2) Then he reminds me how easily God’s people fail to properly respond to that goodness:

Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. (Nehemiah 9:35)

When I became a Christian, one of the first principles the Lord taught me was this:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Yet all this week, I have complained about being overloaded with responsibilities, inundated with gifts that inadvertently added to my to-do list, and feeling like not getting out of bed because it was too much for my mind as well as my body and the hours in a day. 

Yet as Charnock points out, when God bestows anything upon His people, He sees it best they should have it. Now I am beginning to see how God is using these ‘bountiful blessings’ to show me how my response is not what He wants from me. 

First, all is from Him and because He is good, this is also for my good. The writer of Proverbs asked for “neither poverty nor riches” only what was “needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:8–9) And I think the same about being busy; not idle and doing my own thing, or so busy that I forget His power to help, then try to do things without Him.

The good that is coming from this ‘far too busy’ stuff is that He is showing me a need for repentance. Complaining is not only useless but I am denying His goodness in how He governs my life. I need to trust Him and be thankful, not whine. I like this quote from Charnock:

If we are sick it is goodness, a disease and not hell; a cloud, and not total darkness. If he transfers from us what we have, he takes no more than what his goodness first imparted to us… he never takes so much from his people as his goodness leaves them. If he strips them of their lives, he leaves them their souls…  and removes them from those houses of clay to a richer mansion. The time of our sufferings here… bears not a moment to that endless eternity wherein he hath designed to manifest his goodness to us. The consideration of Divine goodness would teach us to draw a calm even from storms… 

Other verses shows me that this “goodness” of being overwhelmed has purpose to show me what is needed from me: “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4) and this passage:

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created. And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! (Psalm 148:1–10)

PRAY: Since all creation praises You, what is my excuse for complaining? You are showing me that my complaints are a rejection of the good You give and the reality that You are able to grant me what is needed on my part. First, I confess and repent of my self-centeredness, then…

I Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform my vows to the Most High. (Psalm 50:14)

Then: I “commit my work to the Lord, and my plans will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3;9) You will bless this because You gave it for my good… and I thank You that You know what is best for me, even using it to bring repentance for my selfishness and complaining. Amen.