Redeeming Grumbling. (Helen)

We all know people who seem to have nothing to talk about unless they can grumble about their life. I have a very exhausting friend at the moment who is like this. She is not a Christian but she has set me thinking about how I portray my life and whether I show Jesus in my words or my trust in God’s loving rule in how I talk about life.

The answer to the problem of moaning is not for a Christian to always say ‘i’m fine’ when asked, or ‘life’s great, thanks’. The Bible tells us that grief and sadness, hardships and suffering are what to expect as followers of Jesus living in a broken world (Matthew 5, Mark 8:34, John 15:20). This world is not as God intended it to be and we show that we do not take sin seriously or see Gods disciplining hand at work in our life when we always say that life is ‘fine’ or ‘great’.

On the other hand, failing to enjoy God’s blessings and His gifts to us (yes even His gift of hardship and refining fire to test our faith and increase our praise to Him, 1 Peter 1:6-7) is also sinful and dishonouring. We should be able to find our joy in God through all the seasons of life we face even if they are not the one’s we wanted or expected.

As a mum the hard times of feeling like I am rubbish at my job and unable to control my children, the exhaustion, the monotony, the lack of head space to chill out in, the laundry, the mess, the noise etc, can be overwhelming. I need to be honest about this, even with friends who would love children and can’t have them. I need to be honest about my failures and struggles because they are a real part of my life. But I shouldn’t moan. I shouldn’t pretend that life without children is rosy, or other people have it easier than me. All seasons and situations we go through have trials and joys, often at the same time. In being honest about the difficulties I face I need to also share the joys, by sharing where my joy is. Do I go through the hard times of parenting because (as I’m tempted to say) the kids are actually great and it’s all worth it? Or should I actually give credit where credit is due and say that it is a blessing and a privilege to be a mum because of  God. All the He is doing in me and my children shows me His love and goodness, growing me into the person that God wants me to be, filling me with complete joy in Him above everything else.