INTRO.- ILL.- A monk entered a monastery and took a vow of silence. After the first 10 years, his superior called him and asked, “Do you have anything to say?” The monk replied: “The food is bad.” After another 10 years, the monk again had the opportunity to express his thoughts. He said, “Hard bed.” Another 10 years passed and he was again called before his superior. When asked if he had anything to say, he replied, “I quit.” His superior said, “I’m not surprised one bit. You have done nothing but complain since you came here.” ;d be in good shape. Or if we never complained but every 10 years we would be considered saints by most people. But this is not the norm for most people. It seems that we all tend to be more negative than positive about life. We see bad things instead of looking at things from a positive point of view.
ILL.- For example, a survey asked mothers to track how many times they made negative comments, compared to positive ones, to their children. kids. They admitted that they criticized ten times for every time they said something favorable. A three-year survey of one city’s schools found that teachers were 75% negative. (I guess 75% of the time)
OH WOW! Are we humans so bad? Are we so negative? Do we complain more than we praise? Are we more negative than positive?
ILL.- It’s like that old story about the guy who took his family to church. As they drove home from church, she complained about everything. He said, “The music was very loud. The sermon was too long. The announcements were not clear. The building was hot. People were unfriendly.” He went on and on, complaining about pretty much everything. Finally, his son said, “Dad, you have to admit that wasn’t a bad show for just a dollar.”
If God was as negative as we are, where do you think we would be?
2 Corinthians 1:20 “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is said by us to the glory of God.”
All the promises of God are “yes” in Christ. And they are many. They are positive in Christ. They are positively good in Christ. And no one offers anything better to humanity than God. This being true, then we should be more positive about life than negative.
We always have hope in Christ for better days and hope for our future eternity with Him. We have everything going for us because we are in Christ and can trust all of His promises in the Bible!
Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:32-33 “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who spared not even his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also give us all things with him? I don’t think you can get anything more positive than these verses. GOD IS ON OUR SIDE! Consequently, we can and should be more positive in life and complain less than others.
PROP.- But, what do we do when we have a complaint in life? Where are we headed? The psalmist tells us.
1- We pour our complaints to the Lord
2- We confess the Lord as our refuge
3- We ask the Lord for help in times of need
I POUR OUR COMPLAINTS TO THE LORD
1 I cry to the Lord; I raise my voice to the Lord for mercy. 2 I pour out my complaint before him; before him I count my affliction. 3 When my spirit fails within me, you are the ones who know my way. On the path where I walk, men have set a trap for me. 4 Look to my right and you will see; no one cares about me. I have no shelter; no one cares about my life.
ILL — Out west, a cowboy was driving down a dirt road, his dog riding in the back of the pickup, his trusty horse in the trailer behind. He was unable to negotiate a corner and had a terrible accident. Some time later, a highway patrol officer arrived on the scene. An animal lover, he first saw the horse. Realizing the seriousness of his injuries, he drew his service revolver and put the animal out of its misery. He walked around the accident and found the dog, also seriously injured. He couldn’t bear to hear him whimper in pain, so he ended the dog’s suffering as well.
He eventually located the cowboy, who suffered multiple fractures, in the brush. “Hey, are you okay?” the policeman asked. The cowboy took one look at the smoking revolver in the soldier’s hand and quickly responded, “I never felt better!”
If you thought the Lord was going to put you out of your misery for complaining, you might get better. quickly or at least let’s say you were fine. Fortunately for us, the Lord is willing to listen to our complaints in life.
He is the only person who will put up with our complaints. God is a good listener in all situations.
ILL.- Back in 1984 I had bought a new Olds Cutlass Ciera wagon. It wasn’t long after I bought it that every time we used the air conditioner it gave off a stinky smell in the car. I took it to the dealer three times. Each time they tried something different. Finally, after the third time, the duty manager told me, “Spray lysol on the vents. Otherwise, bear it.” ENDURE?! And besides, he wasn’t nice about it.
I finally took it to another GM dealer and asked if they would look at it. They did and found out I had a leak in the system causing the smell and they fixed it.
After that, I wrote a letter to both the dealership I bought the car from and the owner of that dealership, explaining in detail what happened and how the service manager treated me. In the letter I said that the only person who treated me well was the salesperson who went out of his way to help me. I said in the letter that they should make him duty manager. And the next time I went back to that dealership they had made that salesperson the service manager! The wheel that squeaks the loudest gets the grease!
However, for most of us, we humans squeak too much in life. But if we want to yell or complain, please don’t put it on Facebook, take it to the Lord. HE WILL LISTEN BECAUSE HE IS FILLED WITH COMPASSION FOR INJURED PEOPLE AND MAYBE ALSO FOR THOSE WHO COMPLAIN.
1 I cry to the Lord; I raise my voice to the Lord for mercy. 2 I pour out my complaint before him; In front of him I tell my problem.
Yes, there is someone who cares and we can go to Him with our hurts, our pain and EVEN our complaints. Most people won’t listen to your complaints, but the Lord will. He can with them.
II WE CONFESS THE LORD AS OUR REFUGE
5 I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
I say: “You are my refuge…” This is a form of confession. It is a confession of something good; that we belong to the Lord and that we believe He can take care of us. Has he confessed his faith in the Lord lately?
ILL.- In one of his speeches to the soldiers of the first world war, General Pershing said: “I have known Jesus Christ for forty-seven years, and I could not face life without Him. It is not a small thing to know that all the past is forgiven, that God’s help is available every day.” Then he said: “I recommend such a Savior to you.” That is confession.
ILL.- One day, while preacher Dwight L. Moody was walking down a Chicago street, he saw a man leaning against a utility pole. He gently put his hand on the man’s shoulder and asked if he was a Christian. The guy raised his fists and angrily exclaimed, “Mind your own business!”
“I’m sorry if I’ve offended you,” Moody said, “but to be honest, that’s my business.” !” And it is our duty to confess Christ at any time we have the opportunity.
Matthew 10:32-33 KJV “Whoever confesses me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. but whoever denies me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Romans 10:9-10 KJV “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Because with the heart one believes for justice; and with the mouth one confesses for salvation.”
1 Timothy 6:12 “Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
The confession of Christ is part of the salvation process. If we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and Savior of the world, then we must confess it publicly anywhere and anytime. And not only in the church but also in the world. Confession is not like baptism, which is a one-time deal. Usually we are baptized only once in a lifetime, but confession and repentance continue and should be a daily thing with us.
ILL.- Someone wrote: “A good testimony is like a sign. It doesn’t matter if he is old, young, pretty or ugly; he just has to point in the right direction and be able to be understood.” And so with us for Christ. We point it out whenever we can.
ILL – Frederick the Great was a scoffer, but his great general, Von Zealand, was a Christian. One day at a meeting, the king was making rude jokes about Jesus Christ and the whole place rang with laughter.
Von Zealand stood up and said, “Sir, you know I have not feared death. . I have fought and won 38 battles for you. I am an old man; Soon I will have to go into the presence of One greater than you, the mighty God who saved me from my sin, the Lord Jesus Christ whom you are blaspheming. I greet you, sir, as an old man who loves his Savior, on the brink of eternity.”
With a trembling voice, Frederick replied: “General Von Zealand. I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon! Sorry!” The company dispersed in silence.
The confession of our faith in Christ can have a dramatic impact on those around us. But it won’t if we don’t talk about it.
III WE ASK THE LORD FOR HELP IN TIME OF NEED
6 Hear my cries, for I am in desperate need; deliver me from those who persecute me, because they are too strong for me. 7 Release me from my prison, so that I can praise your name. Then the righteous will gather around me because of your kindness to me.
LISTEN TO ME. RESCUE ME.
ILL.- Driving through Mineral Wells, Texas, one afternoon in 1994, Jim Rhodes noticed many empty buildings due to the closure of a local military base. “I always complain to God about things that bother me,” says Rhodes, “so I asked him, ‘Why aren’t these buildings used to help the homeless?’
A few days later an ad appeared in the newspaper: one of the buildings on the base was available to any charity that could…