Jonah 4:1-4

But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.  He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.  Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

Words are powerful. With them we can set the tone of our life. Jonah was angry that the Ninevites were receiving forgiveness for the things they had done. He literally became angry and began to complain about his frustration. Not only did he get angry but he became irrational in his complaining. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” That is some serious complaining. You see, complaining will cause a negative attitude to develop within you that will turn into irrationality. There is NO fruit in complaining. Complaining contaminates life. It causes us to lose focus and open the door for the enemy to play with our attitude. Instead of being in control complaining takes over. To spend your whole life complaining about what you do not have is to waste what you do have. We too easily focus on what is going wrong rather than what is going right. And guess what gets all our attention and focus? What is going wrong. For some reason we are bent to being creatures of complaining rather than creatures of commending. We use our tongue for all the wrong reasons.

What you thank God for is what He tends to give you more of. Too whom much is given, much is required. At the heart of that statement is a heart of thanks for what God has given. Too many times we are wasting our time complaining about what we don’t have rather than what we do have. We are to be faithful with what God has given us, not frustrated with what God has not given us, yet. How many times do we miss the great things God has done for us and is doing for us because we are so busy complaining about what He hasn’t given us? God is not moved by frustration, He is moved by faith. Complaining and whining do not get you very far, especially when it comes to the dreams God has given you.

I challenge you to go on a complain fast…do not allow any complaining talk come from your mouth. When you would normally complain turn it into complementing.

Ephesians 4:29

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.