Grumble, Grumble, Grumble. Just Stop It!

I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Nike marketing slogan “Just Do It.” It encouraged us to get up and get moving, but most of all to buy Nike products. Brilliant!

After listening to my Pastor’s sermon yesterday, I started thinking about that slogan; only with a twist. Our Pastor challenged us to stop grumbling for 40 days. JUST STOP IT! Sounds easy right? Well think about it for a minute. How many things do we complain and grumble about on a daily basis? Our jobs/boss, our spouses, our kids, that person in line in front of you in Wal-Mart with 29 items in the 15 item express lane. There’s a saying in the military, “a GI is not happy unless he has something to complain about.” Stop and ponder on it for a while, and you’ll likely come to the conclusion that we are a nation of complainers. We like to grumble!

How does God view grumbling? James 5:9 says, “Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” When the nation of Israel was wandering in the desert they grumbled about not having any meat to eat. God provided manna for them every day, but they wanted meat. So God provide quail for them to eat. So much so that the meat came out their noses and they became sick of eating quail. When He showed them the Promised Land they sent spies in to take a look around. Joshua and Caleb came back with a positive report and said “let’s go”, but the others were afraid of the people that were already there. They stirred up discontent and doubt (grumbling) among the people. What was God’s response? He sent them back out into the desert for 40 more years until all those who grumbled had died and then lead them back to the promised land. Get the picture? God does not like, nor want us to grumble.

There’s also a saying that says, “If your not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” Rather that complaining about things we don’t like, how about suggesting a solution.

Forty days without grumbling. I’m going to try, please pray for me.

P.S. Pastor Tom went on to say that when the 40 days are over it does not mean that we can start grumbling again. Hopefully our characters will begin to change in that time, and we will begin to act differently.