The apostle Paul calls the church in Philippi (and us) to shine like stars in this twisted generation (Philippians 2:15). This past Sunday, we discussed one of the ways to shine is not to grumble. We are all prone to grumble, complain, and argue about things that distress and disappoint us. The more you grumble, the more you see other things to whine about. It is almost always related to an entitlement that has been threatened or thwarted, and we complain. We discussed from the passage the impact on the community in which you might complain, but it also does something to the one grumbling – it steals their joy.
When you are young, you grumble often. The other day I woke up my daughter who is 6, and she was complaining because she doesn't want to go to school. We go down for breakfast, and she wants cereal, not eggs. She also wants to look at our phone. So, she is off to school, having had some cereal with no screen time. It was such a disappointing start to the day for her. Thankfully she takes it all in stride and goes on with her day. No tantrum.
We can grumble in the same way with the things that we want. As adults, we have some power to get what we want, but sometimes God has other ideas. Like a good parent, God does not always give us what we want, and we grumble. We need to ask ourselves, "Is Jesus enough?" Nothing is wrong with being disappointed in a desire unfilled, but we need not grumble about it; God is enough.
Paul encourages those in the church to join him in the joy that he has despite being in prison while writing the Philippians. He commands them to "Rejoice in the Lord always; I say it again rejoice" (Philippians 4:4). We are called to rejoice in all situations. We know our joy must be based not on our circumstances but on the one who is sovereign and loves us with everlasting love.
We can always respond to the Psalmist's bidding to worship the Lord. "O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods," Psalms 95:1-3.
