Skip to main content

How to Complain to God



Nobody needs to tell us that life is tough.  From the moment we come out of the womb, life is full of events that shock our system and challenge our sanity.  Some cynics have said, “Never trust anyone who smiles…it makes you wonder what they’re up to!”  If we take life as it comes at us, it is very easy to become negative and complain about everything.  Of course, constant complaining doesn’t cultivate many friendships.  Most of us know that a positive attitude about life brings a multitude of benefits.  Those in the medical field will readily confirm that a positive attitude is a critical factor for healing.  Even in the midst of great troubles, a positive attitude helps us to count our blessings and seems to make life a little better.  Besides, doesn’t the Bible tell us to “count it all joy…when we encounter various troubles” (James 1:2)?

So when it comes to dealing with our problems, we who are trying to follow Jesus wrestle with internal tension.  On the one hand, we do want to “count it all joy” and face our troubles in faith and a positive attitude.  Such an approach appeals to the “heroic” in our spirituality.  But it can also make us stoic and inauthentic.  We put on a happy face when we’re dying inside.  We “fake it till we make it.”  We don’t share our troubles with anyone because we don’t want to appear spiritually weak.  We don’t complain to people and we don’t complain to God.  But the reality that we are living is something completely different.  We are hurting.  We may face very difficult or even dangerous circumstances.  There may be people who genuinely hate us and wish us ill. 

What do you do with that?  If you bottle it up and just tough it out, frankly, you risk mental illness in the long run.  Does God allow us to complain to him?  Can we accuse him of deserting us or not being fair when we honestly feel that way?  The answer to those questions is “Yes, of course.”  God knows how you feel anyway.  Why hide it from him?  The Hebrew people were very good at complaining to God.  You can find examples throughout the Psalms.  Psalm 13 is a perfect example:

Long enough, God—
    you’ve ignored me long enough.
I’ve looked at the back of your head
    long enough. Long enough
I’ve carried this ton of trouble,
    lived with a stomach full of pain…

That’s the first two verses of the earthy translation known as “The Message.”  These psalms of complaining are called “laments” and they make up nearly one third of the whole collection.  For many of us, this kind of praying seems disrespectful.  We can’t talk to God that way!  But Job did and it opened his mind and heart to a whole new understanding of who God is. 

The key to the psalms is that they always express faith while complaining.  Without exception, every single psalm of lament, somewhere in the text, stops and reverses course.  “How long, O Lord…BUT I trust in your unfailing love.” “You have put me in the lowest pit…BUT I cry to you for help, O Lord.” And from the wonderful little prophetic lament called Habakkuk, “Though the fig tree fails to blossom…YET I will praise you.”  This is a prayer language that God hears.  This is the kind of prayer that will strengthen your faith and transform you.  Just the other day, I was arguing with God. (Yes, it’s true.)  I knew I was wrong, but I just had to get it out there.  And in my honesty and vulnerability, God revealed his strength and my weakness. I gained a whole new perspective and hope in my circumstances.  God will do the same for you when you complain in faith.  The psalms of lament can give you the words that you need.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lament for a Nation

June 7, 2020 Psalm 85 We Have Forgotten God I’ve said many times how much I enjoy preaching through the Gospel of Mark.  You can’t go wrong exploring the words and actions of Jesus.  And I also know that I am most effective in my preaching when I can systematically go through a biblical book, building truth upon truth as we journey through a text.  But there are times when it is necessary to step aside from the progression of a series and address what is happening around us.  Today is one of those times.  Our whole nation was shocked, grieved, and angered at the brutality of officer Derrick Chauvin as he literally choked the life out of George Floyd while he pled for mercy.  And all the while, three other officers just stood around without saying anything while their colleague committed murder in front of a crowd.  Any moral person, regardless of race or political persuasion, has been outraged.  It was no surprise then, that many ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Revival of Hymns Could Help

Like most pastors, I’m considering what it might look like when our congregation is able to gather again.   In the online discussions that I have participated in, some have suggested that the congregation not sing.   It may be that the prohibition against singing is even mandated in some places. Such a prohibition is hard for me accept.   But I get it.   Singing takes more breath energy than speaking and the “particles” that inevitably fly from one’s mouth when singing (especially when it is in German!) may travel more than the prescribed six-foot social distancing boundary.   Still, as a life-long church musician, that is a hard pill to swallow.   As I’ve pondered this, I wondered if singing acapella at a soft level might be an effective compromise.   As a choral musician, I know that some of the most poignant moments are often when the choir is singing very softly.   I can imagine that a congregation singing hymns softly would hav...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Jesus People Movement and the Genesis of Contemporary Praise & Worship Music

...The Nature of Praise and Worship Music Contemporary praise and worship music has become a fixture in evangelical churches.   There is no turning back the tide.   It is here to stay.   But the form and understanding of the genre has “run off the tracks” in many places.   What the Jesus People experienced in their worship gatherings is often far from what a worshipper in a typical evangelical church in America might experience forty years later.   I recall in the mid-1980’s attending a number of church growth conferences where the facilitators – who seemingly had no experience or expertise in worship theology – told their audiences that praise and worship music must be embraced in order for their church to grow.   Frequently, the music was adopted and embraced without the ethos that was present in the early days of Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard.   I believe the disconnect was a contributing factor to the worship wars. In their corporate ...
Post a Comment
Read more