'Complain and Remain; Praise and Be Raised'

A lady called an early-morning Christian radio talk show I often listen to and said that a Bible teacher taught her this helpful maxim: “Complain and remain. Praise and be raised.”

I’ve thought a lot about those words.

Here’s a dictionary definition of “complain”: “to express dissatisfaction, pain, uneasiness, censure, resentment, or grief; to find fault; to tell of one's pains, ailments, etc.; or to make a formal accusation.”

Writer Steve Pavlina says, “Complaining, like all thought patterns, is not mere observation. Complaining is a creative act. The more you complain, the more you summon your creative energies to attract something to complain about.”

Samuel Johnson said, “When any fit of gloominess, or perversion of mind, lays hold upon you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaints.”

Anthony D’Angelo said, “If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it.”

Bernard M. Baruch said, “You can overcome anything if you don't bellyache.”

Robert Hugh Benson said, “I think that the insane desire one has sometimes to bang and kick grumblers and peevish persons is a Divine instinct.”

Benson’s quote infers that God probably doesn’t like to hear grumbling and that most people share that instinct. After God led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery, they were at first thankful, but God got fed up with their subsequent griping, whining and murmuring. (To “murmur” means “to make a low or indistinct sound, especially continuously; to complain in a low tone or in private.”)

“They (the Israelites) murmured in their tents and did not obey the Lord” (Psalm 106:25).

“The tendency to whining and complaining may be taken as the surest sign symptom of little souls and inferior intellects,” said Lord Jeffrey

“I can't complain, but sometimes I still do,” said Joe Walsh.

Someone noted, “Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses.”

Here are writer Alexander Kjerulf’s “Top 10 reasons why constant complaining is so toxic in the workplace”: Complaining makes things look worse than they are. It becomes a habit. You get what you focus on. It leads to onedownmanship. It makes people despondent. It kills innovation. It favors negative people (the way to get status among complainers is to be the most negative). It promotes bad relationships. It creates cliques. And, finally, pessimism is bad for you.

Complaining may cause you to fall backwards into the “slough of despond.” (“The Slough of Despond” is a deep bog in John Bunyan's allegory “The Pilgrim's Progress” into which the character Christian sinks under the weight of his sins and his sense of guilt.)

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).

Complaining is easy because it comes naturally; it exudes from our fallen human natures. Praising God during tough times involves taking the high road and “pressing on the upward way.” Praising God instead of complaining involves choosing the words we say. God will enable us to choose the positive response and die to “self.” Many of us want to have a pity party once in a while. We may justify those times by saying, “Well, I’m just letting it all hang out” or “I’ll just tell you how it is.” We’d be better off quoting one of these verses: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), or “Rejoice evermore, Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), or “He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20), or “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be moved (pushed over)” (Psalms 55:22).

“Complain and remain. Praise and be raised,” the lady on the radio said.

I believe that when we praise God, he helps us deal with pain, stress and despondency and that he raises us to a new level in his love, grace and peace.