Don't Complain. Ask.

We have a rule in our house: “Don’t complain. Ask.” Not that any of us actually follow that rule, but I keep saying it in the hope that one day it will take.

“I’m sooooooo thirsty.”

Don’t complain. Ask.

“This is too hard!”

Don’t complain. Ask.

“But I don’t have any clothes to wear!”

Don’t complain. Ask.

“No one ever puts anything away around here.”

Don’t complain. Ask. (That was me talking to myself.)

Anyway, you get the point.

God has a lot of experience listening to complainers as well. For one, there’s me. And also the Israelites.

Remember them? “We don’t have enough food. We were better off in Egypt. We’re going to die. We’re thirsty. We don’t like the food. We don’t like the leaders. We’re going to die. We need a new god. We need more stuff. We don’t like these rules. We’re going to die.” And so on and so forth.

Of course, that was just in the desert. It also applied to entering the Promised Land: “But they’re too big….” And the Judges period: “But all our friends have a king…” And to the times when they had a king: “You gave us the wrong one. This isn’t the one we wanted…”

I’m pretty sure I would have told the Israelites to stop bothering me. But not God. Nope. He just keeps on rescuing them. He has some harsh things to say about complaining. And He lets them suffer consequences. But He never cuts them off completely. Why?

Because He loves them.

And He loves us.

He loves us so much that He actually commands us to ask Him for help. Not just as an alternative to complaining, but because He wants to rescue us.

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.

(Psalm 50:14-15, ESV, emphasis added)

Read the whole Psalm. God says He doesn’t need us. He doesn’t need anything from us. But He doesn’t say, “I don’t need your sacrifices or anything else. So quit your whining already!” He says, “I don’t need your sacrifices or anything else. So ask me for help when you need it. I’ll be there.”