Complaining: expressing dissatisfaction, often with a negative attitude, toward God, others, or circumstances. It can involve murmuring, grumbling, and finding fault, and often implies a lack of gratitude or trust in God.
There was a season where I found myself complaining about everything even the smallest things until one day, God was like, STOP COMPLAINING! That moment hit me so clearly. This is what the whole post is about: doing our best not to fall into complaining. It’s something that comes so easily when we feel uncomfortable, but it’s also something that God does not like.
“Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.”
Numbers 11:1, NKJV
This is not about staying quiet when you are treated unfairly or going through spiritual attacks in your walk with God. It’s about recognizing the kind of discomfort that is actually from God—the kind that is meant to grow you, shape you, and prepare you for the next step in your journey. In those moments, instead of complaining, we need to trust that God is doing something in us.
Discomfort doesn’t always mean God is absent. Sometimes, it’s the very evidence that He’s doing something bigger than we can see. For example, if we read the story of Joseph in the Bible (Genesis 37–50), we see that he had to go through the pit, the prison, and the pain before reaching the palace. I can only imagine how uncomfortable that must have been for him. In the end, it turns out that his discomfort was for a bigger purpose.
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”
Genesis 50:20, NLT
Maybe you find yourself in an answered prayer that also brings discomfort with it. You should know that your past isn’t better just because it was more comfortable or came with more ease. I remember praying for a job. I got it. Three months later, I was fired. And the first thing that came to mind was, Why did I even get this job in the first place? But then I had to stop and ask myself: wasn’t I the one who prayed for it in the first place?
The Holy Spirit really checked me. He reminded me that I was acting just like the Israelites in Exoduscomplaining about something that was once an answered prayer. Something that blessed me financially. But because it didn’t go according to my plan, I started talking negatively about it. Just like the Israelites in the wilderness. They were on their way to the Promised Land, but they complained so much that what should have been a short journey took 40 years.
Sometimes we sit in our complaints for so long that we don’t even realize it anymore. We wallow in them. We replay what went wrong, how unfair it felt, how disappointed we are. And in all that noise, we miss where God is trying to work on usand even the better opportunities He is bringing. The journey to glory fails when we don’t lean in. Don’t turn back when it becomes difficult.
The scary part? Complaining can actually start making us believe that our former situation—our Egypt—was better. Not because it was better, but because we’re uncomfortable in the middle of the journey. Discomfort distorts perspective. Pain makes the past look prettier than it really was. Just like the Israelites said to Moses:
“Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? … It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness!”
Exodus 14:11–12, NLT
They were so close to freedom, but their discomfort blinded them. They were ready to go back to slavery because at least it was familiar.
How often do we do the same? We start longing for situations God already delivered us from, just because the in-betweenis stretching us. But that stretch is exactly where God wants to reveal something to us. Growth is in the tension. There’s so much He wants to show us in the discomfort—about who He is, who we are, and what we’re truly capable of when we trust Him.
The truth is, I don’t need to be anywhere else right now but exactly where God wants me to be. These seasons may be painful or confusing, but they are not a mistake.
“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”
Proverbs 16:9, NKJV
Complaining can be so normal that sometimes we don’t even realize we’re doing it. It becomes familiar. It can even start to feel good. That’s when it gets dangerous. Sometimes we’re so clouded by everything that’s not going the way we want, we forget to notice even one good thing. One blessing. One lesson. Complaints can blind us to what God is actually doing. We don’t see the opportunities He’s giving us. We miss the growth He’s trying to bring out of us.
So in this step of the journey, we are learning to look at things differently. To stop reacting like the Israelites every time something doesn’t go according to our plan. And to be reminded that even this frustration, this detour, this moment is part of the journey to glory. God hasn’t left. He’s just trying to teach us something before we get to the promise.
