Grumble Grumble...

Complaining.
We all do it at one point or another. Some people tend to do it more so than others.  The cost of gas, not having enough time, slow Internet connections, crappy weather, people who don't signal before turning, loads of schoolwork that needs to be done; Let's face it, there are countless times in which we find ourselves complaining about something. We often find it easy to complain when circumstances don’t go our way or we find it just as easy to feel justified in being upset.
But you have to think, what gives us the right to complain about anything? Lamentations 3:39 says that "Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins?" Who am I to complain?
And honestly, do we really have anything to complain about? We take so much for granted these days. Most of us have access to clean drinking water, eat at least 3 square meals a day, have a warm, safe home to live in, and that's just the start of the list. So here I find myself complaining about how Wendy's goofed up my order while on the other side of the world somebody doesn't get to eat more than a cup of rice per day. Just pitiful.

The truth in the matter is that I deserve nothing but hell. Every blessing I have is all because of God's grace and mercy. How is it that we find it so much easier to complain than give thanks to Him?
Ephesians 5 tells us to be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. Last time I checked, I didn't see Jesus complaining about anything. So if Jesus didn't, does that give us any right to? Absolutely not.

Things will go wrong in our lives. Gum on your shoe. A flat tire. A break up. These things happen. And we really only have two ways to deal with these instances. We can spend our time taking our eyes off of God and complaining, or we can rejoice.
As Christians, we should be taking more time to thank God for our blessings and less time complaining about what we see as problems. Philippians 4:4 says rejoice in the Lord always. This is not a suggestion or an option; this is a command to be taken literally: Rejoice! Be joyful in ALL your circumstances on purpose. God doesn’t want us just to refrain from complaining, but to truly “consider it joy” when trials come our way. We can and should give thanks because of what God has done and is doing rather than being caught up in our own emotions. We can consider trials as joy because we know the One who is working through them and in us– both for our benefit and for His glory.