When ye murmur and repine under cross and afflictive dispensations, this is a presuming to instruct God how to deal with you, and to reprove Him as if He were in the wrong. Yea, there is a kind of implicit blasphemy in it, as if you had more wisdom and justice to dispose of your lot, and to carve out your own portion in the world. This is upon the matter the language of such a disposition, Had I been on God’s counsel, I had ordered this matter better; things had not been with me as now they are. O presume not to correct the infinite wisdom of God, seeing He has decreed all things most wisely and judiciously.
Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter Catechism.
See here the evil of murmuring and complaining at our lot in the world. How apt are ye to quarrel with God, as if He were in the wrong when His dealings with you are not according to your own desires and wishes? You demand a reason, and call God to an account, Why am I thus? Why so much afflicted and distressed? Why so long afflicted? And why such an affliction rather than another? Why am I so poor and another so rich? Thus your hearts rise up against God. But you should remember that this is to defame the counsels of infinite wisdom, as if God had not ordered your affairs wisely enough in His eternal counsel.
Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter Catechism.
Complaining about the weather seems to be a favorite American pastime. Sadly, we Christians often get caught up in this ungodly habit in our society. But when we complain about the weather, we are actually complaining against God who sent us our weather. We are, in fact, sinning against God (see Numbers 11:1).
Trusting God, 1988, p. 96. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
An unthankful and complaining spirit is an abiding sin against God, and a cause of almost continual unhappiness; and yet how common such a spirit is. How prone we seem to be to forget the good that life knows, and remember and brood over its evil – to forget its joys, and think only of its sorrows – to forget thankfulness, and remember only to complain.
Christian Joy.
Is it not lamentable that men will never thank God for the countless blessings He confers upon them, and then remember Him only to complain of the evils which they have brought upon themselves, and which are never half so great as their misconduct deserves?
Christian Joy.
The godly do suffer and complain about it at times. But the Bible teaches plainly that their suffering, even after their conversion and reconciliation to God, is not punishment any longer, but chastening. It is not the punishment of a God who is angry with them, but the chastening of a God who is reconciled to them. Whom God loves, the Scriptures says, He chastens. He makes all things, including pain, “work together for good for them that love God, and are called according to His purpose.” That should be the consolation and strength of the saints… That affliction is actually a blessing in disguise. At other times, the pain hurts so much that they cannot, through the tears, see the disguise. Momentarily they lament the heavy hand of God upon them, but when they are thinking in their most saintly character, they praise God. His rod and staff comfort them.
The Problem of Pleasure, Soli Deo Gloria, 2002, p. 12.
A 12 Point Cure for Complaining:
1. God commands me never to complain (Phil. 2:14).
2. God commands me to give thanks in every circumstance (1 Thes. 5:18).
3. God commands me to rejoice always, and especially in times of trial (1 Thes. 5:16; Jas. 1:2).
4. I always deserve much worse than what I am suffering now, in fact, I deserve hell (Lam. 3:39; Lk. 13:2-3).
5. In light of the eternal happiness and glory that I will experience in heaven, this present trial is extremely brief and insignificant, even if it were to last a lifetime (Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:19).
6. My suffering is far less than that which Christ suffered, and He did not complain (1 Pet. 2:23).
7. To complain is to say God is not just (Gen. 18:25).
8. Faith and prayer exclude complaining (Psm. 34:4).
9. This difficulty is being used by God for my good and it is foolish for me to complain against it (Rom. 8:28).
10. Those more faithful than I have suffered far worse than I, and did so without complaint (Heb. 11:35-39).
11. Complaining denies that God’s grace is entirely sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9).
12. The greatest suffering, the worst trial or difficulty, can never rob me of that which is of greatest value to me and my greatest joy, namely the love of Christ (Rom. 8:35-39).
A 12 Point Cure for Complaining, Christian Communicators Worldwide, www.CCWtoday.org. Used by Permission.
Human beings, being what they are, somehow feel entitled to question the reasons for everything that happens to them. In many instances life itself becomes a continual criticism and dissection of one’s circumstances and acquaintances. We look for someone or something on which to pin the blame for our misfortunes. We are often quick to forget our blessings, slow to forget our misfortunes.
A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Permission by Zondervan, www.zondervan.com. 1970, p. 70. Get this book!
He who complains of the weather, complains of the God who ordained the weather!
God calls us to put our complaining to death, and to put on thanksgiving and gratitude as our garment and cologne (Jeff Hutchinson).
Uncommon Belief, Tabletalk, Nov. 2004, p. 55, Used by Permission.
The mind of man is a “factory of idols.” We are infested with lusts. Listen closely to any person given to complaining, and you will observe the creativity of our cravings.
Seeing With New Eyes, P&R Publishers, 2003, p.152. Get this book!
The Bible warns against these folks. Jude speaks of false teachers who are identified as “grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts” (Ju. 1:16). We’re familiar with Moses and the “grumblers” he had to deal with (Nu. 14:36; cf. Psm. 106:25; 1 Cor. 10:10). Some of these folks are so arrogant they have no problem complaining about the Lord, or worse, complaining directly to the Lord Himself (Dt. 1:27). God had to reprove Job, “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?” (Job 40:2). Despite the clear command in Philippians 2:14 to “do all things without grumbling or disputing,” these people who seem to know nothing about edification and encouragement, persist in their destructive behavior. Kent Hughes concluded, “[These] hostile, quick-to-see-the-worst, graceless [individuals] are as old as the church” (2 Corinthians, p. 38). Every church deals with them. Every leader deals with them.
Sermon, Confidence in a Clear Conscience, 2 Corinthians 1:12-14, February 2, 2014.
So, what’s so bad about complaining? One – it reveals a thankless heart. How much easier is it to complain about the two things we don’t have as compared to being grateful for the thousands of things we do have? How can we follow the commands to rejoice always (Phil. 4:4) and be thankful for all things (1 Thes. 5:18) if there is a mere morsel of complaining in our hearts? Two – complaining reveals greater sins. Why do we complain? Because we are jealous that someone has what we want. Because we are selfish that things are not going our way. Because we are discontent and unsatisfied in Christ’s sufficiency. And three – complaining distrusts the sovereignty of God. Complaining implies that God made a mistake; that He not ruling the world with perfect justice and wisdom and quite frankly, we could do a better job. That He’s personally unloving and unkind to us. Can we rightly accept the fact that God has a good plan for our lives, or do we complain in believing ours is better and thus cast doubt on our sovereign Creator?
Sermon, Growing Deeper with the Lord, Philippians 2:14-18 – Part 1, November 20, 2022.
As long as a man is alive and out of hell, he cannot have any cause to complain.
Be careful, dear friends, that you do not misrepresent God yourselves. You who murmur; you who say that God deals hardly with you, you give God an ill character; when you look so melancholy, worldlings say, “The religion of Jesus is intolerable;” and so you stain the honor of God.
C.H. Spurgeon A Jealous God, Sermon 502, March 29, 1863.
A heavy wagon was being dragged along a country lane by a team of oxen. The axles groaned and creaked terribly, when the oxen turning around thus addressed the wheels, “Hey there, why do you make so much noise? We bear all the labor, and we – not you – ought to cry out!” Those complain first in our churches who have the least to do. The gift of grumbling is largely dispensed among those who have no other talents, or who keep what they have wrapped up in a napkin.
If Christians spent as much time praying as grumbling, they would soon have nothing to grumble about.
Murmuring is the rising up of oneself against God. It sets oneself against God as if I am wiser than He.
We are apt to complain, but remember: God’s infinite plan ordered [these trials]… The reason we do not see the wisdom of [the trial] is partly because being creatures we cannot fathom the wisdom of the Creator, and as sinful creatures we are blind and prejudiced. It is also partly because we forget the purpose they ultimately aim toward, and measure them by our own standards. It is also partly through our own pride, because we have such a high opinion of our own wisdom, which is foolishness indeed.
The Decrees of God, 1690.
