The title starts this post out. I think that people have the idea that God will not tolerate, and doesn’t want to hear our complaints, or our frustrations, some of which can be wrapped in anger, about our problems in life. Those problems can be physical, mental, spiritual, or financial and can be caused by our health, our job, or people. They have the idea that we are never to grumble, that we should do all things, including just living, without complaining. This misconception may be based in part on this scripture:

Philippians 2:14-16 ESV

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Now I believe that if God gives you directions you should follow them without complaining. The Israelites, sure found out what can happen when one complains about God’s commands and his appointed leadership.

Exodus 16:7-8 ESV

And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full because the Lord has heard your grumbling against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”

This is not the same thing as telling God that you hurt, are sick, or broke, or someone is out to get you, and you are tired of it. We make a big mistake if we think God only wants to hear flowery, happy prayers, that only praise and thank him. To use a phrase, only present God with Sunshine and Daises. God does not say to us to only talk to him when we have something good to say or say nothing at all. God wants us to tell him how we feel, after all, he is our father. Can you imagine a parent getting mad at their child for telling them they are hurt when they fall down, have been bullied, or suffered some other pain? Can you imagine God saying that we can’t get mad at something wrong?

Jesus said what he thought about some people in his life and it wasn’t good. He had a confrontation one day and let them have it with both barrels. Jesus told his disciples that these folks do not practice what they preach.

He told those people a lot more:

Matthew 23

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’  You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?  You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’  You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?  Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.  And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’  So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?  Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.  And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.”

Do the words Christ used fit the message? “if you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all”?

David had a lot of things to say about troubles in his life, most of which were caused by one person. He did not hold back telling God how he was being pursued, cheated, and mistreated by Saul, that paranoid, disobedient King of Isreal. David begged God to intervene, to rescue him and he also said how he thought this rescue should happen. David wanted retribution. Some folks think this is not allowed, it is against God’s will. Really? God doesn’t want us to tell him about how we feel about other people, ones who are bad and dangerous.

David said this:

Psalm 109 1-13

Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;

 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

 They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.

 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.

 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

 Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.

 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.

 Let his days be few, and let another take his office.

 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.

 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath, and let the strangers spoil his labor.

 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.

 Let his posterity be cut off, and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

I think this Psalm and the words of Jesus tell us that there is nothing you can’t tell God. It is that simple. God is ready to hear our complaints as well as our praise. Jesus said to cast your cares upon him. It is much more beneficial to complain to God with our ears open, than to our neighbors. We can tell God what is on our hearts even when some of it is not pretty. Not only can we tell him, but he is waiting to hear it. We just need to remember that God can calm the storm but sometimes he takes us through it. It is up to us to believe. Believe He can make your days good.

Derrick