My wife, Janet, scolded one of our children yesterday for complaining about the food. She told her that if she were to utter one more word of complaint, she will not eat. I was watching to see if my daughter would complain again and what Janet would do if she did – if she would really let her go hungry. But no more confrontation was necessary since she didn’t complain again. What would I have done if she complained again? I’d make sure that my wife enforce her word and take away her dinner! I’d rather my child go to bed hungry (she won’t die) than to have her think that it’s OK to complain.

It is a serious serious matter to God for us to complain. The reason why ALL of the 1st generation Israelites died in the desert is because of their complaining. (or what prompted those complaints)

“And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. (Numbers 21:5-6)

Why is complaining such a big deal to God? Because it is distrust. It is distrusting God. But it is more. It is judging God to be something He is not. It is thinking in our hearts that God is not good and He doesn’t care about us.

But there is a right kind of complaining! The Psalms are filled with complaints to God! (Psalm 142:2, for example) Why is that OK but what the Israelites did NOT OK? The difference is that the psalmists are complaining TO God about their plights. The wrong kind of complaining complains ABOUT God. It is the complaint that is rooted in distrust. But our complaints TO God is done in trusting God. It arises from the dichotomy between what we think should happen versus what is happening. But rather than thinking God to be evil, we go to Him and plead for His justice and will to be done, fully trusting that even though we don’t understand why something is happening, God will work it out for our best in the end.

Don’t complain about God to someone else. You will bring judgement on your head. Complain TO God, fully trusting Him. He will accept it as a cry from His beloved children.

PH