I Can’t Complain, Or Can I?
“I am weary of my life; I will complain without restraint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.” Job 10:1
“As for me, I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, and he will hear my voice.” Psalm 55:17
“I am weary of my life; I will complain without restraint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.” Job 10:1
“As for me, I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, and he will hear my voice.” Psalm 55:17
What God is this that hears when we complain? I don’t deserve to be heard half the time in my prayers. They’re all “help with this,” “heal that,” and “soon!”. I can’t believe he listens to the boring requests that come out when I’m praying. I’m even more shocked that God would listen to the complaining and murmuring. Really listen to the whine, whine, whine.
The truth is, though, I don’t often give God the complaining and murmuring to listen to (unless I’m mad at Him for letting something happen). I give my complaints to others. I grumble about my life to my coworkers, my husband, my friends—not so often to God. To God, I give my plans and ideas how to make my life better.
Now, I know Job and David were complaining about bigger things here than a marital spat, but maybe they really had things right here. Perhaps, we can still draw some broad conclusions on how we should act in life.
What I see is that basically, I should be handing my complaints over to God. Why? First of all, It’s the juicy stuff, so it’d spice up my prayer life right away. I mean, that’s why we share it with each other, right? The gossipy complaints can be so much fun to listen to. Why keep God from getting a little of it?
Just think for a minute, how much better things would be if we turned to God with our complaints. Who is really going to help us? When we turn to each other, we are looking to build an army to be on our side. When we turn to God, we are looking to get help—salvation.
The thing we all really know, and maybe this is why we sometimes avoid God with the complaining stuff, is that we actually do get salvation. Not an earthly one, but one of our souls. We find ourselves convicted and growing and changing. Hopefully, with no desire to complain any longer to those surrouding us.
So, take heart, O complainers. There is hope for us. We must just turn to God and let him hear it. A little more God, a little less of everyone else. Then, complaining should cease and righteousness begin.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some complaining to do—with God.
Jamie Lath
Jamie Lath is a middle child that has no baby picture without her older sister in it. Even with only two siblings, she grew up with family everywhere because all her aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and even second-cousins lived in her hometown. With forty people at her birthday parties (all relatives) and her sister in every picture, she knows a little about community, and it's everlastingness. This has brought most of her ministry focus into meeting people where they're at, listening closely (especially to those who feel voiceless and like no one is listening), and helping them find God's voice in the mix. Jamie graduated with a BA in Communication Studies from the University of North Texas. Following a year of teaching English in China, she returned to the states to attend Dallas Theological Seminary. She received a Th.M. with a focus on Media Arts. Her background in the arts (ballet, writing, and acting) has given her an understanding of how creative expressions can give people a safe place to begin exploring how to use their voice and how it can touch hearts to hear God’s voice. She also blogs at I just called to say "Olive Juice."
3 Comments
Visitor
To believe that God is there
To believe that God is there for us when anything wrong will happen to us is quite impossible for me cause i have already face lots of pain in my life and i have not found a single person who have seen the god. I always want to say that, i don't believe that god really exist in this world, but it is not true either cause by seeing people's undying faith in god,sometimes i also feel the same. It is just one of the way for the people to live their life by struggling and believing that there is god for them to help.
Jamie Lath
Praying for you
I am sorry for your pain and am praying for you through it. I can tell that you are seeking to find truth and solace in the midst of it. I truly believe that if you are seeking to know the truth, it will find you. Although no one has seen God today, there are many who saw Jesus at one time and then shared this with us in the Bible. I would encourage to keep reading the Bible (which I assume you have done since you sometimes feel the same undying faith of those you see around you). Also, do not be afriad to doubt and question God. He is big enough to take those questions. So, go ahead and lay out all your questions and then seek the answers. You may be surprised by what you find. I hope you keep reading here on Tapestry and feel free to comment as you like. We welcome your input and will keep you in our prayers.
Lilo
The problem with that is, it
The problem with that is, it doesn't matter if you believe that others just believe there might be a God for God to cease to exist. The world was always round even when most thought it was flat. By the time you realize that God exist itll be too late unfortunately. Oh well.