Philippians 2:14 – “Do everything without complaining or arguing.”
This is one of the hardest verses for me because I love complaining. It seems to be a natural reaction to what is happening. I am likely to bring up the objections to a suggestion.
In these days of social distancing and quarantining of our families, how easy is it to fall into complaining and arguing? We complain about staying in (although it was not so long ago that we were complaining we were out of home too much), about not having enough toilet paper (who would have ever imagined that?), and about not having enough time to read our Bibles (oh wait, we do have time). Now, we might be complaining that we are moving too fast to re-open or too slowly to re-open. Sometimes I wonder if complaining is in our DNA.
Some of us are using our time wisely. We are reading our Bibles more, eating healthier, and getting more exercise. The rest of us are watching more television, eating more junk food, and lounging on the couch – and complaining. Paul would be amazed, amused (I like to hope), and a bit angry. He wanted us to be imitators of Christ in the way we are living our lives. No complaining or arguing in the line at the grocery store. No worrying about whether there will be toilet paper. No sulking that your favorite series has ended for the season.
When people say that God has a plan, they sometimes mean that they have no idea why something is happening, and they hope there is a plan for making it better. I tend to think that God is in control, and even if we do not know why, we have to trust that God knows. No complaining about the plan, and no complaining that we wish we knew what was going on. We are not in control; God is. We cannot complain about that.
God, help us to stop complaining. We have much to be thankful for; help us to remember those things. Help us accept that You are in control. That is enough! Praise You, God, for being in control of all. Amen.