Complaints Department

        Well, we’ve been saying for months that we wanted moisture.  We sure got it this week.

Some people are happy about this, but many are not.  “We didn’t want it that way!  We wanted rain.”  “This won’t do any good.  It’ll all just run off.”  “Why did this have to happen during calving season?”  “It’s supposed to be spring!  We didn’t want all this.”

Sometimes I wonder what it must feel like to be God.  God  gave us exactly what many of us asked for.  And what do we do?  We complain.  We gripe.  We criticize.  Whatever God gives us, it’s the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong way.  To hear us talk, God is totally incompetent.  God can’t do anything right.  If only God would listen to us and do things our way, everything would be a lot better.

Now, please don’t think I’m being critical of you.  At least, I'm not being any more critical of you than I am of myself, because I’m the same way.  I’m none too happy about our recent snowstorm, either.  I'd much rather we'd gotten (non-freezing) rain instead of snow.  I'd also much rather it had come at a different time.  As I’m writing this, on Thursday morning, I’m still stuck in a motel room in Sioux Falls, a day after I was planning to be home.  I’ll probably be home before you read this, but I’m expecting to have a long and uncomfortable trip.  I’m not looking forward to it.

If I was God, I'd get awfully frustrated with all the criticism I was getting from these mere human beings, human beings who would not even exist if not for me.  God does not seem to react that way, though.  At least, if God does, God does not show it.  God understands why we do the things we do.  God understands everything.  God understands us better than we understand ourselves.

Still, it must be disappointing to God.  God does so much for us, and instead of being grateful for it, it seems like all we ever do is whine and gripe and tell God what God should be doing.  It’s pretty arrogant of us to think we know more about being God than God does, but a lot of times, that's what we do, and not just when it comes to the weather, either.

So, the next time we start to complain, let’s stop.  Let’s think about who God is.  Let’s think about how wise, and how good, and how loving God is.  Let’s think about all the things God has done for us.  And instead of complaining, let’s say “thank you” to God for everything God has given us.