Philippians 2:14-15
14 Do all things without complaining and disputing, 15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
This really hit home for me. How can we do all things without complaining and disputing? What does that even look like? First, I believe, if we are being led by the Holy Spirit, then we are in the will of God. So many times throughout the day, we do things without consideration of what God would want us to do. We don’t align ourselves with the Word of God and this leads to frustration. Hence, the complaining and disputing. When we complain and dispute after receiving clear instructions from God, then we are basically disrespecting Him by not trusting His guidance and doubting His plans. This puts us at fault. Even if we obey, if we do it while complaining, then we are doing it out of works without faith. We need both to be a light unto this perverse and crooked world.
1 Samuel 15:22
22 So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
God isn’t impressed with how much we sacrifice for Him. It all belongs to Him anyway. He is pleased by our obedience. We must still stand strong against the world systems. Instead of complaining, we need to put our faith into action by creating God given solutions instead of complaining. We have no need to dispute with the world about spiritual things because a carnal mind won’t understand them (1 Corinthians 2:14).
We shine when we do all things like we are doing them for the Lord. We need to make a conscience effort to always do our best and not fall into the snare of laziness and half-stepping. Everything the Lord tells us to do is not easy, but the results of obedience will be increase, promotion, and blessing. God takes pleasure in our prosperity and will give us our desires if we take pleasure in Him. We do this with our obedience.
I encourage you today to take a look at what is frustrating you. Measure how you are handling those areas against God’s Word. Ask God to give you instructions. Wait for the Holy Spirit to lead you, and obey. Bridle your tongue against complaining and disputing. Put a praise and thanks where those blaming words would once be.
Father, we thank You that You are a God of new grace and new mercy. We thank You that You give us instructions and have a clear purpose for a lives. Lord, we want to be blameless and harmless. Forgive us for complaining and arguing with You even as we obey. We want our light to shine before men. We want to have solutions and not add to the problems of this generation. Show us our part and teach us how to be grateful and content in all that we do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!