Do everything without grumbling or arguing,
so that you may become blameless and pure,
children of God without fault in a warped
and crooked generation.
Then you will shine among them
like stars in the sky.
Philippians 2:14–15

Over the years, I have learnt that complaining is very crippling
to us. Some might not realise that, and I was one of them, until
now. This negative attitude can hinder us in so many ways, such as robbing our joy, peace, and definitely diluting our destinies. I have learnt that the greatest warfare is praising Him while we go through the fire, instead of complaining.

In my opinion, complaining is a way of having an adult tantrum. I will share a couple of stories of how I learnt about God’s concern and His dislike of complaining. I feel this topic is very important to share, as knowing this has changed the quality of my life and, more importantly, my relationship with the Father.

It all started when I was out and about after school drop-off one
morning. I got a call from the school saying Adon had a very high fever and I was to come quickly. I arrived in ten minutes and saw him lying on the bed covered in cold packs. I saw the terror on Adon’s face. I could tell he didn’t know what was wrong with him.

I had never seen him that sick in his life. He told me all he was
whispering to himself was, ‘Jesus, Mom, Jesus, Mom’.
I sat by his side on the bed at the school, placed my hand on him, and said, ‘In Jesus’ name, I rebuke you fever and all infirmities!’

He was then able to sit up and get his shoes on. I ran to bring
the car around closer so he wouldn’t have to walk far. In the car I was praying the whole way home, speaking life and thanking Jesus for the healing I knew would come! There was a nasty bug going around the school, and kids were staying home for days because of this potent virus. Teachers and parents were even being knocked around by this bug.

When I got home, I gave him fever medicine, put cold cloths
on his forehead and got him to a stable condition. I constantly
checked for fever. Evening came, and I actually got him to eat a
small amount of dinner, and then he vomited it up all over the
kitchen floor. I knew the coming weekend was shot!

He had been invited to a birthday party that evening, he was
supposed to be having a sleepover the next day, we were invited to a lunch, and we had a photo shoot scheduled for our family. The entire weekend was booked with fun activities, and now it looked like everything would be cancelled.

My mood changed, and I became miserable after cleaning up
the vomit. I said to Chris with a sigh, ‘Babe, you go to the lunch
tomorrow with Paige. I will just stay home and look after Adon. I probably won’t get any sleep tonight because I will be up all hours checking on him. I can just see how my weekend is going to be. Can’t believe this is happening now’.

I was speaking negatively with a loud and obvious complaint in my tone. My face said it all. Just then, in the kitchen I heard the Holy Spirit say so clearly,

‘Melissa, why did the Israelites not enter the Promised Land
sooner, instead of them ending up wandering in the wilderness for forty years?’

‘Because they were complaining and whining’, I replied with
confidence at such an easy question. To my horror, He continued by asking, ‘And what are you doing?’

Oh my! It hit me. I was whining and complaining! It was all
about me, the inconvenience, the plans all down the drain, and
not getting my way. I immediately repented and chose to speak
positively whether I felt like it or not.

I spoke out loud, ‘Lord, I thank You that You will be with me,
You will never leave nor forsake me and You will hold my hand
as I get through this weekend with Adon. If I have to stay home
all weekend, be up late hours looking after Adon, at least I get to spend it with You! You are such a good Father, and what You do or don’t do doesn’t change that! I’m so sorry’.

For the rest of the night until we went to sleep, I just praised
and spoke positively, thanking Him for being a good Father and
declaring Adon’s rapid healing. Adon always slept next to me if he was unwell, since I liked to check on him regularly, especially when there was fever involved. That night, I asked Jesus to wake me up if Adon needed me, as I was a deep sleeper.

As requested, I was indeed awoken and told to check on Adon.
When I did, he was absolutely drenched with sweat. I was in awe!

The fever was breaking! I gave Adon more medicine and started
praising God. The next morning, he woke up totally healed, like
nothing had happened the day before. Adon was healed in less than twenty-four hours, while this bug was knocking some people out for quite some time.

The lesson learnt is that God hates complaining and whining. Let us choose with our free will to praise, since praise isn’t dependent on a feeling; it’s a choice.

We have control over what comes out of our mouths and which
attitude we portray. Doesn’t it bother us parents when we hear our children whining and complaining because things haven’t gone their way? I don’t know about you, but I can find it very annoying.

I believe that if those Israelites had never complained but had
praised God for delivering them out of Egypt, and had trusted
Him for every provision that was needed at that time, in faith, they would have entered the Promised Land of milk and honey within days. From the start of their exodus out of Egypt, all they did was fret and complain when it looked like what they wanted was not readily available.

You would think that after escaping from the Egyptians and seeing the ocean part into two massive walls, that would have put their fears to rest and they would have trusted Him for every need. Still they continued in their negativity. He showed them miracle after miracle, yet they complained and complained. I also believe their complaining stemmed from fear, not faith.

Without going into much detail as this message is long enough at it is, two weeks later after Adon was unwell, he hurt his foot with the scooter, it turned yellow and was slightly swollen, he couldn’t put it down far less touch it.

I remembered the lesson I learnt prior and made sure I worshiped and not complained. It was day two since Adon had the accident, he was due for an X-Ray on day three as the doctor suspected a small fracture or sprain, but the night before the X-ray, I was having and amazing worship session with papa God, just loving him for who He is, and Adon walks into my room! He couldn’t believe he just got healed sitting in his bedroom! He walked back and forth in my bedroom in shock!

I just wept! The power of praise during a storm is powerful!!! Instead of focusing on what the enemy is doing, we focus on Gods love and what He can do and is willing to do.

‘Rescued and Redeemed by Grace’