Gratitude Kills Grumbling

How often do you truly take time to consider the blessings in your life? To go to the Lord with prayers of thankfulness for his underserved grace and provision, for the big things and for the seemingly minor ones. How often do you go to a brother or sister in Christ just to tell them how thankful you are for the encouragement they are in your life? Do you do the same with your spouse? Your kids? What about that difficult co-worker or boss who has a tendency to get under your skin? Or that friend who always seems to have something to complain about? Do you encourage them with truth or do you throw fuel on the fire by joining in… Are you sometimes that complaining friend? You see it is often much easier to succumb to the slow slide of frustration and exasperation with our circumstances and others, than it is to redirect our focus toward gratitude and thankfulness. We become blinded by our own sense of entitlement as our frustration hardens into bitterness and results in the sin of grumbling. The act of grumbling means to complain in a bad tempered way, or maybe a more accurate way of describing the heart of the issue is that it means to murmur or speak complaints under your breath. It is the outward expression of an inward discontentedness. That is the danger, grumbling sows seeds of disunity, undermines authority, and builds callouses on our soul that make us unable to recognize God’s goodness in our lives. Like the child who in the midst of a fit declares how unfair their life is to loving parents, while completely unaware of the extent of the care, blessing, and love they have been shown. We see this pattern multiple times with the Israelites during the Exodus. Despite the seemingly obvious blessing and provision of God who has rescued them out of slavery in Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and provided manna and water for them in the midst of the Sinai dessert, yet they grumbled against Moses and his leadership, and against God in doubting His goodness and deliverance. Their grumbling brought judgement and consequences including that generation not being able to enter the promised land. We are given similar commands, such as in James 4 where it says “Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door”. Or 1 Peter 4 - “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling”.

So how do we guard against the sin of grumbling? Cultivating a heart of gratitude and contentment in the Lord, leaves no place for complaining, bitterness and grumbling to breed. Surrounding ourselves in a church where our brothers and sisters in Christ can encourage us and correct us when we stray toward discontentment and grumbling, protects us from becoming hardened in our sin. When we rightly go to God in thanksgiving, recognizing the extravagant grace and mercy we have been shown, our perspective changes away from the frustrations and perceived inconveniences of this life, and we are able to see clearly the opportunities and blessings we have to encourage one another, express gratitude, and worship our Heavenly Father.