Riding roller coasters is not my forte. I recall getting on
Thunder Road at Carowinds Theme Park once—and only then to please a girlfriend.
I clung to my seat and my girlfriend as the row of cars inched to the top of
the first mountain. I held my breath as my car began its breathtaking descent through
the valleys and curves to follow. No loops. No corkscrews. Just up and down and
around curves at breakneck speed. I sighed a breath of relief when the string
of cars finally stopped.
I’ve also ridden another type of roller coaster—one the
ancient Israelites rode quite often—called the complainer’s roller coaster. God
delivered them from four hundred years of slavery, but that wasn’t good enough.
They quickly disobeyed him, and he sentenced them to forty years of wilderness
wandering. Even then, he ensured they had food, water, and shelter. That wasn’t
good enough either. They complained about what He gave as well as the timing of
His giving it.
The Israelites didn’t complain continuously. Nor do I. Like
the roller coaster, my complaining is up and down--enough, however, I’m sure to
rattle God’s nerves. Some maintain complaining doesn’t change a thing. But
sometimes, it does. Yet, healthier ways to affect change exist than through a
griping attitude.
Complaining shows a lack of appreciation for the way God
cares for us. We may think we know best how God should meet our needs, but only
a God who can peer into the future really does. A faith walk lives not by sight
but by trust in a God who is all-knowing and unconditionally loving.
Our complaints also reveal we doubt God’s goodness. God is
good all the time. Our definition of good and his may differ, but we must trust
he has our best interests at heart.
Additionally, when we complain, we question God’s methods.
His ways are higher than ours and often beyond our ability to understand. But
he is God, and we are not.
Much better than complaining is a willingness to accept our
situations, to be content in them, and to ask God what he is trying to teach us
through them. Complete trust takes us off the complainer’s roller coaster.
Father, prompt me to ride the roller coaster of thankfulness
rather than complaining.
Tweetable: Are you on the complaint roller coaster?
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