I found the
birdfeeder the other day. After several days of “warm” weather, snow piles had
melted to a height over which I could now see. So who’s complaining? I saved a
lot of bird seed for the last month or so. The snow receded the other day exposing
a patch of winter grass in stark contrast to the white winter expanse of the
past weeks. So who’s complaining? I have not had to mow the grass since the
middle of December. Heavy rain the other day was able to turn my car from a
salt-tinged gray to its original color. So who’s complaining? I saved money by
not washing my car for several months. The weather forecast today was for the
temperatures to turn sharply colder and for more snow. I erupted with
complaints telling God what I thought about His meteorological plans! Why do I
have to endure the cold? Why more snow? Why can’t we have an early spring? Why
can’t I put away the winter coats? Why have I not won an all-expense paid trip
to a warm tropical isle? So who’s complaining? Me!!
I began to think there must be a
direct link to the frigid temperatures and my critical and complaining spirit.
However, looking at the rest of life, I have not been able to confirm that linkage.
In the spring it is warmer and yet I complain about the showery days. I don’t
really care that spring showers bring about May flowers. The flowers generate complaints
about pollen! Summer elicits grumbling about heat and humidity. I get whiney
about sweaty underarms, wrinkled cloths, and being barbequed by the sun’s rays.
In fall it is neither depressingly cold nor uncomfortably hot. Nonetheless I
tend to murmur about piles of leaves to rake and my frost damaged petunias. I
suppose I cannot justly connect the weather to my complaining spirit. I am a multi-seasonal
complainer – I can find something to complain about in any season!
Complaining is not seasonally
induced. Many people seem to be inflicted with the complaint gene regardless of
the season. The Apostle Paul had learned to, “Be content whatever the
circumstances” (Philippians 4:11). I must have failed that course and been
enrolled in the remedial course of “Contentment 101.” The antidote to
complaining relates to our perspective of life. The great 21st
century “philosopher” Ziggy puts it this way, “You can complain because roses
have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses."
In the Old Testament we meet the
children of Israel in the wilderness in Numbers 11. God has delivered them from
bondage, promised to lead them through the wilderness, provided them water to
drink and food to eat, and had issued a promise to give them a land “flowing
with milk and honey.” What was their response? The people complained (11:1).
They didn’t like the menu saying, “But nothing tastes
good out here; all we get is manna, manna, manna” (11:6 The Message). They were hungry for meat and some of the
garnishes they supposedly enjoyed in Egypt – “the cucumbers, the melons, the
leeks, the onions, and the garlic” (11:5). This is not the first complaint and
it wasn’t their last. They were multi-faceted complainers grumbling about
lacking water, leaving Egypt, following Moses’ leadership, and other concerns.
It struck me that the Lord heard their complaining (11:18). He also concluded
that such action revealed, “You despised the Lord who is among you” (11:20).
There is a principle that seems to materialize
in the Lord’s response. Our comments about life often reflect how we view the one
who is involved in contributing to our life. As one person put it, “To reject
the provision is to reject the provider.” I recall one occasion in my
childhood. Dad had been in the hospital for several months. With the loss of
Dad’s wages, funds were very slim and Mom struggled to provide food for us. On
one occasion I was called to dinner and we were again having watery Irish stew.
Upon seeing my plate, I issued a whiney comment, “Not again!” Tears filled
Mom’s eyes and all she said was, “I’m doing the best with what I have.” She
heard the ingratitude in my words and interpreted them to mean that I thought
she didn’t care. In reality I cared too much about me and cared too little
about Mom and what she had provided.
On a grander scale, think about how
God, who provides all our needs, might feel about our complaining and
ingratitude. James concludes, “But every good endowment that
we possess and every complete gift that we have received must come from above,
from the Father of all lights, with whom there is never the slightest variation
or shadow of inconsistency” (1:17 J. B.
Phillips). God has our best interests at heart, even when those
interests clash with our cravings. I am
reminded that the Lord has a better understanding of our needs and how to
supply them, “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He
ponders all his paths” (Proverbs 5:21). The prophet Isaiah added, “For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares
the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (55:8-9). Often I have grumbled
because I lacked something for which I have lusted. Only later did I discover I
was better off without that which had preoccupied my desires.
Octorara
Orphie says that we are to have several more weeks of winter. I don’t know what
response this groundhog’s prognostication generates in your life. Instead of a
collective sigh of disgust perhaps we can look at the weather and the
concluding days of winter with an alternative view, “This is the day that the
Lord has made; we will be glad and rejoice in it” (Psalm 118:24). Gratitude can
really adjust and even alter our attitude!
