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This article originally appeared in the November 2007 Gold Canyon Lifestyle

Thanksgiving Year

No one likes a complainer. Especially a constant complainer. It seems that grumblers get on God’s nerves. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul details the national sins that caused Israel to be disciplined by God. The ultimate discipline: “…God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert (vs. 5). What did they do to cause such anger from God? Among the sins of idolatry and immorality was the abhorrent sin of complaining. God hates this sin and hates when we practice it!

God the Son shows equal disdain for this lack of thankfulness when He healed ten lepers of their disease. Only one out of the ten came back praising God (for what HE had done) and thanked Jesus. Jesus’ question to this healed leper: “where are the others? Why does no one else come back to thank me?” (my translation of Luke 17!). The Holy Trinity likes to be thanked for Their work and Their blessings. To ignore God is to cause consternation. To grumble in the place of thankfulness causes downright anger and punishment.

We complain about weather, food, family, fellow-drivers on the road, bosses, landlords, co-workers, the list goes on. Why does God get so upset when He hears our complaints? Is there anything we can complain about? The answer to the latter question is a resounding NO so that we don’t upset the God of question one! Why does God not like when we grumble?

First, complaining always questions His sovereignty. When traffic appears on the horizon and our hearts go from thankfulness to bitterness, it is as if we are thinking that God either let things get out of hand or Satan (traffic) snuck up on God. God is in complete control all the time. Complaining questions that control. In Exodus 16:8, Moses has the audacity to say that when we complain about poor leadership or a lack of food, or the same menu, we are actually complaining against the Lord Himself. It was this constant questioning of His guidance that caused some of them to die! God hates a complaining spirit.

Another reason He may hate it is that grumbling tends to be contagious. We rarely, if ever, see in Scripture that “Joel Stein from the tribe of Levi complained against the Lord…” No, we see the plurality in the sin: the Israelites complained; the nation grumbled, families murmured; the Pharisees whined, etc… Our complaining spirit will rub off on others. It was in this context of complaining by the Israelites that discouraged Moses. Others will either join us in this sin as we bring them down or we will sap the joy from those we complain towards. Can you see why God takes this easy, simple sin so seriously? The joy He promises and extends gets clouded out by thanklessness.

God is so serious about this that He demands praise and thankfulness more than just one day out of the year. Exercising thankfulness must be seen in our worship of Him more than just filling our bellies on a holiday. “…since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken (regardless of the weather, traffic, food, people, bills, diagnoses, etc…), let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28).

If you find yourself in the clouds of complaining, under the darkness of despair and wondering where are His blessings: jump on the path of thankfulness. Read Psalm 103 and list His benefits. Thank Him for the Cross. A thankful heart honors God and He will show you the path of deliverance to a brighter day (Psalm 50:23).