Prone to Complain

Come, thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace;  

 Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

  Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love.

(words-Robert Richardson, music- Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music)

This is one of my favorite hymns.  Perhaps it's one of your favorites as well.
I was thinking about this hymn this morning, particularly a line in the third verse.  That line says, "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.  Prone to leave the God I love."

The "prone to wander" line leads me to recall the time the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness, after they had left Egypt and before they entered the Promised Land.   We're often "prone to criticize" the Israelites for their wanderings, yet we often "wander" as well, don't we?  We're not always prompt in our obedience to what the Lord tells us to do, which can leave us wandering pretty aimlessly through life.

But today as I have been thinking about that line from the hymn, I've been thinking we could rewrite the line as "prone to complain".    The Israelites complained a lot on their journey through the wilderness.  They complained about the food.  Or more accurately, the lack of all the good food they had enjoyed in Egypt.  (I guess they forgot the part about being slaves!)  They complained about the dust.  And about having no water.  Complain, complain, complain.

It's the American way, isn't it?  Complain about everything! We are a complaining people.  We complain about the weather.  And the traffic.  About the recent time change.  About politicians.  Even about coffee cups!

We complain about all sorts of things.  I know I find myself often doing that. Complaining instead of being grateful.  Shame on us. We're such whiners! Why is that?  Why are we such complainers?  Why are we never content, but always finding something else to complain about?  It's too hot.  It's too cold.  It rains too much.  It never rains.  And on and on we go.

We aren't born with a "contentment gene".  Contentment is a learned behavior.  Paul didn't say "I am content."  He said, " I have learned to be content." (Philippians 4:11 NASB)

How do we learn that kind of contentment?  In the same way as we learn anything else.  By practice.  By repetition.  By focus.  Focusing on the reasons we have to be content, to be grateful, rather than on the reasons we have for complaining.

This month, this season of Thanksgiving, this very day, is a good time to start.  If you haven't already, start a gratitude journal, listing all the things you have to be thankful for.  Join in the "days of gratitude" activity on social media, every day posting something you're thankful for.  Make a conscious effort not to complain.

It's a good beginning.  A good way to change your focus away from complaining and toward contentment.

Why not begin learning today?

"I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content......In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me."  (Philippians 4:11-13 ESV)