Moaning and Complaining

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’                Hebrews 13:5 NIV

I am telling you this, but not because I need something. I have learned to be satisfied with what I have and with whatever happens. Philippians 4:11 ERV

Have you spent any time listening to early morning or afternoon radio? In fact pretty much any type of talk radio on any frequency? If so, you will have heard our national pastime of moaning, groaning, and complaining. If it was an olympic sport, we would be the undisputed gold medal winners every time.

Somehow, we are able to see something wrong with just about anything. How about things like: My football team manager doesn’t know what he is doing and I could manage that for him. Or, a woman gets paid less than a man. Or, that offender should be in prison longer, in fact he should die there. Or, that idiot was promoted over me, and everybody knows I am better than him. Or, the new traffic diversion in town is terrible, and my 8 year old could do it. Or, the waiting times for surgery at my hospital are too long and I could organise things better. Enough already. You get the picture.

Paul had more reason to complain that any of us, but he didn’t. I read that he was shipwrecked, badly beaten, left for dead, imprisoned in chains, taken to the country’s highest supreme court for trial. And yet he wrote the words in the verses above. Obviously he able to stay calm and know with assurance that he had something better than anything else that was thrown at him.

Paul was an early Christian, and so his life was in constant danger. Can we say the same thing? Is our life in constant danger? And yet we don’t have the assurance that everything is worth the cost for the eternal glory that is ours. So what do we do? We moan about anything that doesn’t go our way, and tell anyone who will listen. So what was it that kept Paul secure? He said it this way: ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ It was enough for Paul, shouldn’t it be enough for us too??

The Moaners

To all who mourn in Israel he will give: beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness. For God has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory. Isaiah 61:3 TLB

Now and again I come across a moaning Christian. Hold on there, that’s not right. The words ‘moaning’ and ‘Christian’ don’t go together and shouldn’t be used in the same phrase. It’s an oxymoron to give it the correct title. But there you have it. Sadly, it’s usually older folks who have been on the way for a while, but somewhere they seem to have lost their joy.

These are invisible Christians, at least to themselves. They are oblivious to their sad condition which everyone else can so easily see, but who will tell them? I won’t or can’t because I respect them and their life lived for Christ. Also because there may be an underlying, and as yet undiagnosed medical condition which we know nothing of…. yet. So tread carefully and resist the temptation to fire a broadside that you may later regret. True joy goes much deeper than the facial muscles and the occasional gripe, and that same joy is their, and your, strength.

And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” Nehemiah 8:10 NLT

God's Fairness

Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous? Matthew 20:15

In Matthew 20 Jesus tells the story of the owner of the vineyard who needed work done, so he went out at different times of the day to hire workers. The first ones were hired at the dawning of the day, and the last bunch were hired an hour before the work was completed. The work was finished, and that is important to remember.

The average working man was no different in Jesus’ day to the employee of today. They saw what happened and they grumbled. Oh we are good at moaning aren’t we? The owner of the vineyard offered the same wage to the labourers whether they started first or last. You can imagine the ones who had been out in the sun all day sweating, as they discovered that the ones who worked for just an hour, got the same money. It’s not fair, I can hear them say.

Do you think a Christian who has been on the way for many years is worth more to Jesus than the late arrival? What about the thief on the cross? He got in literally as he was breathing his last. Did Jesus think any less of him for coming late? Not at all. So, if you think you are worth less in God’s eyes for any reason, compared to any other Christian, think again. We are all equally precious in His sight. What a comforting thought!

You are precious to me, and I have given you a special place of honour. I love you. That’s why I am willing... to save your life. Isaiah 43:4

Moans and Groans

It is just something we do, and we do it so well. We complain, we moan, we groan, and we generally think we have a hard time of it, and our lives are tough. The kind of stuff we complain about, are things like, rain, drizzle, work or the lack of it. Not enough of a salary, or welfare. Kids too noisy or it's a school holiday, had to get up early, had a late night, a friend wasn't nice to you, and the list goes on. We seem to get wound up about some simple things, don't we?

I was reminded just how good we have it, and how comfortable we are in the UK. I think it was Harold McMillan who got into a lot of hot water (politically, in the 50's) for saying, "You've never had it so good", and the truth is, it has continually got better since then.

When you feel bad about your life, have a thought for the 100s of thousands of Pakistani people who have lost their lives, and millions of others who have been made homeless, destitute, desperately ill, have no clean water or clean clothes, and the clothes they stand up in, are all they own in life! All because of rain. The stuff we moan about, but this time causing flooding on a massive scale. Now that's something to complain about, but have you noticed that these folks are too busy rebuilding their shattered lives to moan?

We have no right to moan or groan, do we? Especially about our rain! We've never had it so good!