“This bed is not comfortable,” I thought after laying down in my hotel bed. Then immediately I prayed, “Thank you for this bed, oh Lord!”
How prideful, how arrogant, how self-pitying, how negative, how selfish, how unthankful, how complaining, yes, how sinful I was in that moment. For starters, the bed was perfectly fine. Not to mention I am blessed to have a bed at all when so many do not. Most importantly, God blesses me beyond measure daily in countless ways beginning with giving me a forever relationship with Himself through faith in a life devoted to Jesus Christ as Lord. Pride, arrogance, self-pity, negativity, selfishness, being unthankful, and complaining are all sin against God. I repented. And I turned from complaining to praise.
Sometimes I complain about little things that don’t much matter. Sometimes I complain about big things that really do matter and are super tough and greatly challenging. Sometimes I complain about things somewhere in between little and really big. Bottom line is it is ALL sin against God. All sin – complaining included – needs to be purged from our lives.
What should we do when we leave complaining behind? Let’s turn from complaining to praise. Let’s turn from negativity to rejoicing. Let’s turn from self-pity to thanksgiving. Let’s turn from self to Jesus. Let’s stop looking at what’s wrong and bad and hard in this world. Let’s look to the Lord God almighty, to the Bible, to His will and purpose for our lives, and let’s thank Him for our countless blessings. Most of all, for HIM!
“Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.” Psalms 30:4