Complaint Therapy
There are people who complain all the time about seemingly everything. I think they wake up and start complaining. Then there are those who are quiet and never seem to complain – I’m positive that they have complaints too. They simply choose not to share them. They don’t want to be labeled a “complainer” or a “whiner”. There is healthy complaining – believe it or not. The people who never complain are just not heard by the people who can help with their complaint.
I learned a long time ago that the Lord will hear my complaint. He may not always respond the way I have it scripted in my mind, but He will listen.
As I’ve started through Job, I realize that Job is speaking with his friends, but he’s also speaking with God. He’s aware that God is listening to his complaint. He is not disrespectful to the Lord, but He is hurting. Check this out….
24 I cannot eat for sighing;
my groans pour out like water.
25 What I always feared has happened to me.
What I dreaded has come true.
26 I have no peace, no quietness.
I have no rest; only trouble comes.” (Job 3:24-26 NLT)
There are people in this world who will mistreat others. There are retailers on Amazon that will sell junk and used stuff and try to pass it off as new. There are “mis-behavers” in just about every area of our life. There are times when a formal complaint stops the misbehavior and there are other times when it’s simply “sour grapes” or things just didn’t go like I wanted them.
The Lord will listen to my complaints.
The Lord even listens when I whine.
His response to my complaints and whining is often perspective. I just had someone point out that many things I complain or whine about is a “first world problem”. There are people without clean water to drink. There are people who don’t know where their next meal will come from. There are people with no place to lay their head. These are significant problems and I whine when the internet is slow or there’s a traffic jam ahead.
I need to pause before I complain. I need to run this by the Lord for perspective before saying anything else. I think we need to measure our complaint before sharing. I don’t want my complaint to turn into to whining. I want to keep a healthy dose of perspective available to calm down my complaining.
Pressing On!
Dwayne