"Don't grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look – the judge is standing at the door!" (James 5:9 NLT)
Scripture reminds us, we will be held accountable for every word we say. And it isn’t as though our Judge is far-off and attending other trials. He is ever-present. There’s no conversation or concession outside of His purview. Additionally, a complaint against creation or another is really a complaint against God Himself because the whole world and everything in it is His original design. It’s sin that has scarred it so deeply. The real issue is us, not others.
Our Judge weighs our hearts every time we open our mouths to pass judgment on others. We condemn ourselves when we complain. I’m so convicted this morning! My foray into public education has come with considerable complaint. It’s understandable: we do difficult work with a skeleton staff, meager pay and oppositional students. Those are the facts and you can see how they provide ample fodder for grumbling.
Yesterday, our school spent the morning testing and somehow I was selected as hall monitor. I spent three hours walking the quiet corridors; reading and praying between bathroom escorts. They were the most peaceful school hours I’ve experienced on this campus since I starting subbing in late 2021.
Lent begins today and for weeks I’ve been asking God about what I might subtract to make room for more of Him. And yesterday, in the mist of the cold, empty hallows of Weimar Junior High, I heard Him ask me to give up complaint for forty days. I literally let out a gasp because I know full-well; I’ll fail.
See, complaint is part of the culture in my middle school. It’s the currency we continuously trade. Honestly, it’s one of the ways we blow off steam and keep from quitting. And still, I know, it’s sin. I just hadn’t considered it until that holy moment in the hallway with the Lord. I know He’s asking me to swim upstream in this lead-up to Easter and it’s going to burn my lungs a bit.
"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that no none can critics you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God. thinking like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people." (Philippines 2:14-15 NLT)
Our lack of complaint actually impacts the world around us. The night is far more bearable when the stars blink brightly. There is enough darkness in the world, we needn’t add to it. Instead, our loving God asks us to reflect His light out into our dark and fallen firmament. He encourages us to be agents of heaven in a culture consumed with shadows. This is a divine invitation and certainly worth accepting.
Lord, please forgive us for all the ways we have complain. Grumbling is an easy and natural response, but certainly not the right one. Thank You for pointing it out and inviting us into a fast that matters; a fast that will make an impact on the world around us. Strengthen us as temptation comes. Keep us fixed upon what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable. Help us carry You wherever our feet treat today. Amen.