A Working Definition
Google defines the word grumble as “to complain about something in a bad-tempered way.” The list of synonyms includes “whine, mutter, moan, grouse, bellyache, gripe and my personal favorite, kvetch. Kvetch means “to complain habitually.” Grumblers never stop; they can find fault with anything.
His People Grumbling:
- It angers God. Almost all the judgments which struck down Moses’ people in the wilderness came because of their constant complaining. The adults coming out of Egypt never learned thankfulness or to live a life praising God.
- Blinds us to our Blessings. Grumbling, like its cousin self-pity, becomes such a way of life that we can’t see how blessed we are. We live in the richest, most technologically advanced country in the entire history of our planet. Most of us are employed and well-fed. Many of us even have a little house where we park our cars. Yet if we frequently complain we become spiritually blind to the sea of blessings we swim in.
- We are no longer effective as Salt and Light. Our culture is so negative, envious and materialistic that a complaining Christian just becomes background noise..
- Focusing on the Negative Depresses Us. Grumblers aren’t happy people. Their inner world is darkened, because instead of enjoying the sunshine, they keep pulling the shades down.
- Powerful Spiritual Weapons are Disabled. Thankfulness. Praise. Worshipping in Spirit and in truth. These weapons are so foreign to a complainer’s nature that they can’t even use them.
- Grumbling Poisons our Faith Any believer who has a bad habit of whining about their life finds it impossible to trust God in an emergency. Because complaining always undermines faith.
- Everyone Avoids a Negative Person. Negative people are just unpleasant to be around.
A Word about Mental Illness
I’m not talking to believers suffering from clinical depression, thoughts of suicide, PTSD, or survivors of abuse and rape. This post isn’t directed toward you. Please reach out and get help.
But for most of us, we’ve just developed a bad way of thinking. At any moment we can choose to start thinking differently.
Look at this cat, for instance. He’s obviously unhappy, but also very well-fed and pampered. It looks like something has ticked him off. So he’s not thinking about his blessings. Instead, this cat’s preoccupied with the one thing his owner said no to.
This afternoon I got irritated by traffic.
But I can choose whether to stay in a grumbling frame of mind or apologize to God and shake myself out of it.
What’s the blessing of extra traffic? It slows me down and I’m much less likely to get into a serious, life-altering accident. Plus I have the potential to grow in patience.
We have a choice and the life our Savior wants us live is a thankful one.
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. (Hebrews 13:15 NIV)
These images came from Pixabay.com
