Moving on from complaints

Pastor Myer spent the last ten minutes patiently listening to what Lillian, one of the church members had to say.

Lillian spoke at length about the challenges she had been going through since her husband started drinking. She was worried about the children’s safety, wondered how long their marriage will last if things did not change, and angry that he abandoned her most of the time to care for the children alone.

“Pastor Myer, I’m just so tired of him. He’s got a serious problem with alcohol and he’s refusing to get help”, she finally said.

Pastor Myer looked at her in surprise. “You haven’t still answered my last question”, he said.

“What was the question please?”, an equally surprised Lillian asked.

“What exactly do you want”?

Our world is full of troubles and we all have our share of its troubles, griefs, disappointments, sorrows, trials, delays, uncertainties, etc. This is why the Bible says, “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). We are encouraged to lay off our burdens, worries and anxieties on Jesus, who bore everything on the cross for us. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows… (Isaiah 53:4). He did not bear our burdens out of compulsion; he truly cares for each one of us.

In prayer, our troubles and challenges are communicated to God. We have the opportunity to tell Him exactly how we feel. Rather than focus on our feelings of anger, fear, confusion, loneliness, and disappointment, let us be encouraged to move away from complaining to making specific requests.  

When we make a request to God in prayer, we acknowledge that God is in control of our situation, we feed our faith rather than our fears, and we overcome the temptation to magnify our problems above the power of God. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6).