by Joyce Meyer
James writes that we are not to complain about one another and bring judgment on ourselves (see James 5:9). Talking about the faults and weaknesses of the people in our lives may be one of our more frequent complaints, but we all have faults. Taking an honest inventory of our own faults helps us cover the offenses of others in a spirit of love. 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Love covers a multitude of sins” (ESV).
I try to thank God daily for my family and friends and to think about all the people in the world who are lonely and have no one with whom to even eat a meal. No person is perfect, and the more you get to know people, the more you may see or notice qualities about them you may not enjoy, but you also see advantages that make the relationship with them valuable. For example, my husband is not a gift buyer, so I rarely get flowers from him unless his secretary sends them for him on Valentine’s Day. He seldom just shows up with a gift, and for many years I complained about it. But he does do all kinds of acts of service for me. He does the dishes at night, takes out the trash, and runs errands if I need him to. He is affectionate and never misses a day telling me he loves me. He gives me a lot of freedom to do what I want to do. So I can complain about the things he doesn’t do, or I can be thankful for what he does do. Nobody does it all! There simply are no perfect people.
We should not go to God with a complaint without a vision. Habakkuk went to God with a complaint and He said, “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it” (Hab. 2:2 ESV).
Nehemiah heard a complaint about the broken-down walls in Jerusalem (see Neh. 1:3), so he got a vision and a plan to fix them (see Neh. 2:4–18).
If you have a complaint about your job, then start looking for a better one, but stay sweet and thankful at the one you currently have. Many people who cannot find a job at all would probably love to have the one you complain about.
We cannot complain ourselves into a better position in life. We should pray, be thankful for what we do have, and ask God to show us what He wants us to do to make our situation better.
Be a Bright Star
Scripture encourages us to be bright stars shining for God in a dark world.
Do everything without murmuring or questioning [the providence of God], so that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish in the midst of a [morally] crooked and [spiritually] perverted generation, among whom you are seen as bright lights [beacons shining out clearly] in the world [of darkness].
Philippians 2:14–15
The Amplified Bible Classic Edition says we are to “do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining.” This makes God’s will for us very clear. When we are out in the world day after day, we hear more complaining than anything else. Just start to pay attention, and I think you will agree. People complain about the weather, their job, the government, the people in their lives, high prices, and their aches and pains. The list is endless, but God offers us an opportunity to shine brightly for Him by simply refusing to complain. And along with avoiding complaining, we can go a step further and say as many positive things as possible.
Don’t Quench the Holy Spirit
Quench means “to stop from working, to extinguish, to snuff out, or to smother.” The freedom of the Holy Spirit to work in our lives is vital, so doing anything that quenches or grieves Him is not good.
In every situation [no matter what the circumstance] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench [subdue, or be unresponsive to the working and guidance of] the [Holy] Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:18–19
When I studied these Scriptures many years ago, I began to realize that complaining is a more serious problem than I ever imagined. I doubt I ever get through an entire day without complaining or murmuring about something. I pray I will continue to grow in this area and hopefully someday be able to say I never complain about anything, but I realize that will take a lot of help from God.
Can you make it through interruptions and inconvenience without complaining? Can you face unexpected difficulties and not complain or murmur? Complaining is a reactionary response to something we don’t like. Not complaining is something we have to do on purpose. It requires a lot of discipline and self-control. I also think it requires having the awareness of how dangerous complaining is. Not one of us would want to open a door for the devil and invite him into our lives, and one way we can tightly shut the door to him is to be thankful at all times in all things. Being thankful is the polar opposite of complaining, and it accomplishes a lot for us in the spiritual realm. For example, thanksgiving protects us, strengthens us, and increases our faith. Let’s look at each of these benefits in a more detailed way.
Thanksgiving protects us.
Being thankful protects us from self-pity, greed, discouragement, and even depression. I have wasted many days wallowing in these negative emotions because things didn’t go my way, but I pray I won’t ever waste another day doing that.
Thanksgiving also protects us from our enemies. Deuteronomy 28:47–48 says, “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness of [mind and] heart [in gratitude] for the abundance of all [with which He had blessed you], therefore you shall serve your enemies” (AMPC).
Wow! That is an eye-opening Scripture. Because the people were not grateful, they served their enemies. It is obvious from these verses and others that a thankful life is a powerful life.
Thanksgiving strengthens us.
Having a positive, happy, grateful attitude adds strength to our lives, but being negative and complaining drains strength from us. I have heard that it takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown. Likewise being positive gives us strength, while being negative steals strength. Do you want more strength or less?
Paul prayed this for the church at Colossae and I believe for us as well.
Being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
Colossians 1:11–12 ESV
In studying Paul’s prayers for the various churches he ministered to, I have found it interesting that he never prayed for their problems to go away. He prayed only that they would be strong, patient, and joyful in trials, and that they would endure everything with good temper.
Perhaps we should pray in this way ourselves rather than always praying for God to remove the difficult aspects of our lives.
Thanksgiving increases our faith.
Colossians 2:7 instructs us to be “rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (ESV). The more thankful we are, the more we recognize God’s blessings and providential care in our lives. The more we keep in mind all that God does for us according to His goodness, not according to ours, the more our faith in Him is nourished. We learn from God’s Word that faith can grow. Jesus said that some people had little faith and that others had great faith, so obviously faith can grow, and being thankful helps it do so.
Thanksgiving is the expression of joy God-ward, and is therefore a fruit of the Spirit (see Gal. 5:22–23). Believers are encouraged to abound in it (see Col. 2:7). We are not to be a little thankful, but to abound and overflow with thankfulness.
Thanksgiving Is Part of Praise
Praise is defined in the online version of Vine’s Greek New Testament Dictionary as “a tale [or] narration” that “came to denote ‘praise’ in the [New Testament] only of praise to God” (gospelhall.org/bible)—that is, a telling or recounting of the good things that God does. Praise is to be ascribed to God, in respect of His glory (“the exhibition of His character and operations,” according to Vine’s (gospelhall.org/bible).
The Word repeatedly instructs us to give praise—even to offer God a “sacrifice of praise”: “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise
to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Heb. 13:15 ESV). A sacrifice often denotes giving up something. This Scripture asks us to give up complaining and instead find something to be thankful for in every situation. Under the Old Covenant the people offered animals and produce as sacrifices to God, but He desires that we bring Him hearts filled with gratitude for all His goodness. When we do, these prayers of thankfulness go up before Him as a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and they please Him.
The devil is the one that tempts us to complain, grumble, murmur, and find fault with our lives, with the people in our lives, and even at times with God. We can resist him and instead be obedient to God in this important area of being thankful and grateful, and saying so!
CHAPTER 18
A Beautiful Mind
I am afraid that, even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted and led away from the simplicity of [your sincere and] pure devotion to Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3
I was addicted to reasoning for years. I could not be at peace unless I thought I had everything figured out, and the result was a lot of confusion and complication and a lack of peace.
Christianity is simple, but the devil works to turn it into something complex, difficult, and confusing. We are to be on our guard against our powerful adversary, and anytime we find ourselves confused, we should remember that God is not a God of confusion (see 1 Cor. 14:33). We are to beware so no one will deceive us or take us captive through philosophy (Col. 2:8).
One of God’s greatest gifts to humanity is the mind. The ability to understand, think, and contemplate sets us apart from all other creatures. Scriptures in the Book of Proverbs and throughout the Bible urge us repeatedly to seek knowledge, but leaning too heavily on our own knowledge can become dangerous. God wants us to seek knowledge of Him and His principles. Because humanity is fallen, this great gift of the mind and its ability to retain knowledge often make people proud, even to the point that they think they know more than they do. The devil has always attacked people in their thinking. He also attacks our emotions and our will, but our minds are his favorite target. We should seek to keep our minds filled with beautiful, good, peaceful thoughts.
One would suppose that the more intelligent people are, the less likely they are to be deceived, but sometimes the opposite is true. The more simpleminded a person is, the easier it is to think as a little child and simply believe what the Bible says about Christ. Jesus said we must come to Him as little children or we won’t enter His Kingdom (see Luke 18:17). In the world, simpleminded people are often mistakenly considered not very intelligent, but in God’s Kingdom that is not the case. God desires that we simply believe what He says in His Word above all else. Some people who are very intelligent and depend on their own minds too much may have difficulty believing the gospel because of its simplicity. They think something more complex must be added to it.
Paul was highly educated, and God used him to write two-thirds of the New Testament. There is certainly nothing wrong with being educated. Our minds can be a great advantage to us, but they can also hinder simple faith in Jesus. Paul taught the Greeks, who were also highly educated, and he found it necessary to remind them frequently to be careful of the possible dangers of depending on their knowledge too much (see 1 Cor. 1:22–25). Some people want to understand everything and spend a great deal of time reasoning about matters that are not clear to them. A scientist, for example, might have difficulty believing the simple truth of the Bible because he feels he needs scientific proofs in order to believe. Although we should use our reason, we must also come to the conclusion that reason is not and never will be sufficient to understand the things of God.
Mysteries
There is nothing I enjoy more than a good mystery. Mystery stories intrigue me. Watching and waiting for the plot to unfold can keep me on the edge of my seat. The fact that God is filled with mystery is part of what makes a relationship with Him attractive. For example, the fact that Jesus was born of a virgin is a mystery. The Trinity is a mystery. Christ in us is a mystery that was once hidden but is now revealed (see Col. 1:26–27). The wisest person in the world is the one who understands that he will never understand everything, especially not God and His plan for the redemption of mankind. When it comes to the gospel of Christ, we believe with our hearts, not our heads. We didn’t see Christ die on the cross, but in our hearts we believe He did. We don’t see Him with our natural eyes, but we know positively that He is with us at all times.
Paul warned the Corinthians that they could be self-deceived. He said people should not deceive themselves by thinking they are wise in the way the world views wisdom, but that they should become fools as far as worldly wisdom is concerned, so they can be truly wise in the things that really matter (see 1 Cor. 3:18). There is worldly wisdom, and there is the wisdom that comes from God. Worldly wisdom and philosophies are what Paul warns us to beware of (see 1 Cor. 1:18–31). A philosopher is one who is a thinker. We all think, but it is possible to think too much and end up reasoning ourselves out of the simple truth of God’s Word.
An intelligent person might say it makes no sense that one man could die for the sins of all, or that making yourself last eventually makes you first, or that in order to get more we must give away some of what we have. The more people try to force these mysteries to make sense to the mind, the more confusing they seem. It is at this point of excessive reasoning that Satan can slip in and offer a seemingly reasonable solution. He offers a thought or philosophy that seems to fit neatly into the mind, but it can be filled with dangerous error and lead a person into great deception.
Many who do not believe in God say they cannot believe in a God who would allow the kind of suffering we see in the world. God would not allow little children to starve, they say. But God’s Word tells us that God is always and only good and that the problems in the world exist due to humanity’s rebellion against God and His plan for mankind (see Rom. 5:12–21). This doesn’t mean that children who are starving have been rebellious, but our world is messed up because it is filled with sin, and any truly intelligent person can see that the more sin increases in the world, the more our problems increase also. Many of these situations are mysteries to us. We don’t understand why good people have cancer or why a mother loses all four of her children in a house fire.
These types of circumstances are times for us to lean on God and trust Him. They should not become opportunities for us to blame God and then let Satan distance us from Him because we don’t understand the reason for the problem. We don’t need faith if we have all the answers. Trusting God requires that we allow mysteries and unanswered questions, that we believe God has all the answers, and that we are convinced He is good and just.
Our minds devise plans, but thankfully God directs our steps (see Prov. 16:9). As anyone who has been in relationship with God for any length of time would know, God is filled with surprises and frequently does things that do not make sense to the human mind.
We may reason about many things, but there must be a limit to our reasoning, a point at which we are satisfied to simply believe something because God said it, and we need nothing else to convince us. I often ponder or reason regarding something until I start to feel confused, and that is my sign that I have gone too far because God is not the author of confusion, the devil is (see 1 Cor. 14:33).
God reveals a great deal to us and it is wonderful when He does, but there are also secrets hidden in Him that we will never understand until we are in Heaven and know all things. Paul writes to the Corinthians that now we know in part, but the day will come when we will know even as we are known; the partial will pass away and perfection will come (see 1 Cor. 13:9–10). However, that won’t happen while we are still on Earth.
Deuteronomy 29:29 says that the secret things belong to God and the things that are revealed belong to us. We must be satisfied not to know many things and not allow the “unknowing” to affect our faith adversely. We a
re privileged to have a faith that goes beyond knowing. We can know truth in our hearts even though our minds say that what we believe makes no sense.
Paul writes, “Great is the mystery of godliness” (1 Tim. 3:16 NKJV). Personally, I am thrilled by the mystery. If we knew everything as God knows it, then I don’t see how He could be our God. The very essence of God indicates that He is above us in every way. We are to look up to Him and respect and admire what we don’t comprehend about Him with our finite minds. I think life would be rather boring if we knew everything that was going to happen before it happened.
How does this fit into letting God fight our battles? It partially depends on whether or not we can believe what the Word of God says even when life seems to make no sense. If we cannot do that, then we end up fighting battle after battle in our own minds and becoming more and more confused. To have a painful problem is miserable, but to be confused about the problem adds another layer of pain. Psalm 37:3 offers God’s answer to problems that seem unfair: “Trust in the LORD, and do good” (ESV). This verse promises that even though the wicked seem to prosper for a time, their end will come and the righteous will inherit the Earth. Faith invites us to look beyond what is happening right now to the glorious future God has promised us.
Reasoning
It is not surprising that when we are hurting, we want to find reasons for what has happened to us. But searching for answers we probably won’t get often makes our pain even more intense.
What I do, and suggest to others, is to ask God to show me anything that will help me understand. But if nothing comes to me, then I trust God enough not to have to know why something happened. Also, I trust Him to do as He has promised and work something good out of the tragedy (see Rom. 8:28). Even if God does not give us the answers we would like, He will comfort us because He is the God of all comfort (see 2 Cor. 1:3).
