Hat trick to Jon Bloom over at the Desiring God Blog.
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-to-complain-without-grumbling
Below are my thoughts on the subject. I heartily recommend Jon's post.
I have been in too many churches where everybody seemed to think they had to put on the fake face of HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY... That they had to ONLY approach God and others with a saccharine fake-sweet, fake-happy attitude... Even when they were in SERIOUS pain... Even when they were hurting badly inside... Even when they were tied up in knots.... WHY? Because they wrongly misunderstand that we should not bring our complaint to God.... And so they pine away - FEARING to bring their true situation before God... until it all boils over and explodes into Accusation and Abuse... Bottling up the disappointment for so long - till finally they blow up into "God, you just don't care about me... You are just trying to destroy me.. You hate me... This is all your fault...."
This is wrong. This is error. Over and over in the Psalms, Job, lamentations, and through Paul's epistles - we see models of Righteous complaining... God DOES want you to bring your complaint before Him...
What sets Faithful, righteous complaint apart from unfaithful complaint?....
On one hand - unrighteous "complaint" - which is NOT complaint at the SITUATION, but rather Accusation, Abuse, and Blame... Impugning God and His character... We are in effect saying "You don't love me... You don't hear me.. It's not worth serving you... You just don't care.. All you want to do is bring evil.".. Accuse, abuse, impugn, malign, besmirch.... this sort of complaint only stands to accuse and impugn God and God's character... To state that God is not righteous, not just, not loving, not worth serving.... This is a statement of Ingratitude... You are basically saying - I am mad, I am feeling bad, therefore I have the RIGHT to abuse you and try to make YOU feel bad...
In Exodus especially - we see God's fury towards "Grumbling" - unfaithful "complaint," but also in the words of the prophets - Malachi, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah - we see the examples of people participating in Unrighteous complaining....
Righteous complaint on the other hand is the emotional outpouring and stating the facts of the actual condition... It does not cast accusation on God. It claims no right to Abuse, impugn, or bemsirch. Righteous complain simply states the simple fact - I am hurting, I am feeling pain, I am feeling worry and I need help and comfort....
WE need to teach and apply Righteous Complaint... To use the Psalms and Lamentations as a model for how to approach God (And others for that matter) when we are feeling downtrodden, empty, abused, and hurt.
Why? Well... How do you feel when someone simply wants to abuse you? To malign you? To accuse you of wrongdoing when you have done none.... How hard is it to comfort someone when they are doing nothing but blaming and accusing you... How do you feel when someone starts in with: "You hate me, you don't love me, you are just trying to hurt me, you don't care..." our answer is to pull away FURTHER - to say "OK FINE... You say I don't do anything, you say I don't care - Well... I will show you how that goes when I pull all the good things I am doing away from you and your ungrateful self...."
And in the scripture - we see God respond the same way towards accusation and abuse....
On the other hand.. How we respond with comfort and encouragement towards "I hurt. This is really hard on me. I don't know what to do and everything I keep trying is just failure. I need help..."
God responds with comfort and encouragement towards faithful complaint... Why - because it stands as a statement of the reality of our situation and our physical/mental/emotional state.... It's the statement that I need comfort because this really hurts...
Thanks
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-to-complain-without-grumbling
Below are my thoughts on the subject. I heartily recommend Jon's post.
I have been in too many churches where everybody seemed to think they had to put on the fake face of HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY... That they had to ONLY approach God and others with a saccharine fake-sweet, fake-happy attitude... Even when they were in SERIOUS pain... Even when they were hurting badly inside... Even when they were tied up in knots.... WHY? Because they wrongly misunderstand that we should not bring our complaint to God.... And so they pine away - FEARING to bring their true situation before God... until it all boils over and explodes into Accusation and Abuse... Bottling up the disappointment for so long - till finally they blow up into "God, you just don't care about me... You are just trying to destroy me.. You hate me... This is all your fault...."
This is wrong. This is error. Over and over in the Psalms, Job, lamentations, and through Paul's epistles - we see models of Righteous complaining... God DOES want you to bring your complaint before Him...
What sets Faithful, righteous complaint apart from unfaithful complaint?....
On one hand - unrighteous "complaint" - which is NOT complaint at the SITUATION, but rather Accusation, Abuse, and Blame... Impugning God and His character... We are in effect saying "You don't love me... You don't hear me.. It's not worth serving you... You just don't care.. All you want to do is bring evil.".. Accuse, abuse, impugn, malign, besmirch.... this sort of complaint only stands to accuse and impugn God and God's character... To state that God is not righteous, not just, not loving, not worth serving.... This is a statement of Ingratitude... You are basically saying - I am mad, I am feeling bad, therefore I have the RIGHT to abuse you and try to make YOU feel bad...
In Exodus especially - we see God's fury towards "Grumbling" - unfaithful "complaint," but also in the words of the prophets - Malachi, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah - we see the examples of people participating in Unrighteous complaining....
Righteous complaint on the other hand is the emotional outpouring and stating the facts of the actual condition... It does not cast accusation on God. It claims no right to Abuse, impugn, or bemsirch. Righteous complain simply states the simple fact - I am hurting, I am feeling pain, I am feeling worry and I need help and comfort....
WE need to teach and apply Righteous Complaint... To use the Psalms and Lamentations as a model for how to approach God (And others for that matter) when we are feeling downtrodden, empty, abused, and hurt.
Why? Well... How do you feel when someone simply wants to abuse you? To malign you? To accuse you of wrongdoing when you have done none.... How hard is it to comfort someone when they are doing nothing but blaming and accusing you... How do you feel when someone starts in with: "You hate me, you don't love me, you are just trying to hurt me, you don't care..." our answer is to pull away FURTHER - to say "OK FINE... You say I don't do anything, you say I don't care - Well... I will show you how that goes when I pull all the good things I am doing away from you and your ungrateful self...."
And in the scripture - we see God respond the same way towards accusation and abuse....
On the other hand.. How we respond with comfort and encouragement towards "I hurt. This is really hard on me. I don't know what to do and everything I keep trying is just failure. I need help..."
God responds with comfort and encouragement towards faithful complaint... Why - because it stands as a statement of the reality of our situation and our physical/mental/emotional state.... It's the statement that I need comfort because this really hurts...
Thanks