Quit Griping & Do Something

Humans like to gripe. Even God’s people gripe. When the children of Israel griped and complained and murmured in the wilderness, it often got them into trouble. That’s why Paul told the Corinthians, “Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer” (1 Cor. 10:10).

Sometimes we have legitimate reasons to gripe. Sometimes griping solves a problem. If a customer has a legitimate complaint about a product or the service they paid for, complaining to the manager can fix the problem. Just ask Karen; she’ll tell you. (My apologies to all the Karens out there. I couldn’t resist including that remark.)

But simply griping to no one in particular does not solve problems. Usually it only creates more problems.

Often people bring their complaints to leaders. A zealous believer who wants to do great exploits for the Lord might go to a leader and gripe about his lack of opportunity to do more works of ministry. The ministry work the zealous believer is presently doing is not enough to satisfy his urge to do great exploits. He wants to do more than he is currently doing.

It is good and noble to want to do more for the Lord. Indeed, the Lord wants us to be “zealous of good works” (Tit. 2:14). But if a zealous person does nothing except complain to the Lord about his lack of opportunity to do more and greater exploits, the Lord will probably tell him to quit griping and do something.

This truth was brought home to me recently while I was reading through Joshua. Joshua took the Israelites into the Promised Land to destroy the enemy and possess the land. As the land was being divided up for the different tribes to inherit, the sons of Joseph came to Joshua with a complaint:

“And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the LORD hath blessed me hitherto?” (Josh. 17:14).

Do you see the zealous believer in this verse? He comes to Jesus (Yeshua, our “Joshua”) and says, “Why have you given me only one ministry job, seeing that I am a great person, and the LORD hath blessed me hitherto with many gifts and talents and abilities?”

To such a person Yeshua will probably say, “If you are a great and gifted person, then quit griping and do something.”

This in effect is exactly what Joshua, the Old Testament Yeshua, said to the children of Joseph. “And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee” (Josh. 17:15).

In other words, if you think your current ministry work is too narrow and restrictive and confining, then do something about it. “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes” (Isa. 54:2). If you are a great person, expand your ministry by invading more of the enemy’s territory.

“But that’s not enough for me,” the zealous believer says. “Besides, those giants in the enemy’s territory have all sorts of equipment and weapons that empower them. I can’t compete against the devil’s world system.”

That in effect is how the children of Joseph replied to Joshua. “And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Beth-shean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel” (Josh. 17:16).

But Joshua assured them that they could do it, even though the enemy had chariots of iron and were strong. “And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only. But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong” (Josh. 17:18).

So if you are a zealous believer looking for more opportunities to expand your ministry, be encouraged. Just as Joshua told the sons of Joseph “Thou art a great people, and hast great power,” so your Joshua, Yeshua, tells you “You are a great person, and you do have great power, because the Holy Spirit dwells in you.”

And just as Joshua assured the sons of Joseph that they would get victory in spite of the enemy’s iron chariots, so Yeshua tells you that you can get victory over the enemy in spite of the devil’s world system and all its tools and equipment.

This ungodly world system has a very strong influence through the media, the entertainment world, the political world, the educational world, and the culture. But these things are no match for the power of the Holy Spirit.

“But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). The Greek word translated “power” is dunamis, the source of our English word dynamite. If you have received the Holy Spirit, you have great power. So quit griping. Go forth and dynamite the enemy’s territory. Then build something that will glorify God over the rubble.

| DB

Image: Psalm 15 by Daniel Botkin from his Psurrealistic Psalms art gallery. See all Daniel’s galleries on his art website, DanielBotkin.com.