Christian Author Laura Davis

One of the hardest things for me to do is not complain or grumble. Sad, but true.  Unfortunately, it is a habit that I have learned from childhood. If I grumble or complain about something, I will get attention. For example, as a child if I said,"I'm hungry", my mother would get me food. I was satisfied until I was hungry again.  If she let me go too long without feeding (as a baby for example) I would scream my head off until I got what I wanted.

As a teenager, I complained about my looks, boys, school, math ... you get the idea. It seemed I hated everything! I didn't really, I just didn't know how to ask for help and so I complained in a round about way. Instead of saying, "I need some help with math", I would flop over my books, heave a sigh and loudly proclaim for all to hear, "I hate math!" The response from my parents would be, "Why? What's the problem?" Again - I got the response I was looking for.

After working in this sort of mode since childhood I came to realize recently, (with the help of my husband and children), that I am still complaining and grumbling in around about way and this is not good. I don't even realize when I'm doing it now! I will probably say "Ouch" or "Oh, boy that hurts!" about ten times a day (usually when someone is close enough to hear me). Why? I want sympathy because I'm in pain and I want someone to notice and help me. Does it work? Sometimes. But more times than not, it doesn't because they have learned to tune me out. Now, when I really do need help, I have learned to ask for it. No complaining, no grumbling, just "Please can someone help me?"

Today, while reading my bible, I discovered something I wish I had learned years ago. My complaints or grumblings are not hurting those around me so much as they are hurting God. After leading the Israelites out of Egypt and into the desert, it wasn't long before they started complaining. First, they complained that they had no water. They blamed Moses for that. Then they complained that they had no food and they blamed Moses for that too.Each time Moses went to God, who provided for the people in miraculous ways (Ex. 15-16). Unfortunately, the people didn't seem too impressed and once again they complained and blamed Moses because they had no water. Then Moses got angry and said, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?"

Did you see it? The people were complaining (in a round about way) against  God - not Moses. They were in fact testing God to see what He would do. The audacity! And yet,everytime we complain about something, no matter how minor (i.e. "I wish the snow would go away!"), we are really complaining against God and God called that unbelief. Their complaints showed that they really didn't trust God to provide for them. Their insecurities came out in the form of a grumble and God was not pleased (Numbers14:13-39).

So the next time you are about to grumble about something (traffic, snow, your job, finances, illness,etc.), check yourself! Remember that the Lord, while He is slow to anger, will not let the guilty go unpunished! (Numbers14:18; Nahum 1:3)