Navigating through Complaining.

It is easy in our world to give into griping, grumbling, whining and belly-aching. We are conditioned by society to be negative. We are surrounded by people who have developed the complaining rant into an art form. The dictionary defines complaining as, “an expression of unhappiness, dissatisfaction or resentment, to find fault.” The word used in the King James for complaining is murmuring. Complaining is the verbal expression of the negative murmuring of our own hearts. There are times when a complaint can be valid, but complaining can also
become dumping our personal garbage onto others.

Exodus 16:2, “There, too, the whole community of Israel spoke bitterly against Moses and Aaron.”

The Israelites were characterized by their complaining while they were in the wilderness. It is easy for us to criticize them, but we are so like them. Complaining can become a habit. The Israelites faced danger, shortages, inconveniences and in the face of these hardships they complained bitterly. We are tempted to complain like the Israelites when we face danger, and inconveniences. Our natural response in the face of hardship is to whine, complain and cry out. Philippians 2:14, instructs us to not complain. God knows that our natural response is to complain and He is inviting us to live beyond the natural.