Stop whining! Take it like a man!

*The following is an article I wrote that will be appearing in the Wylie News and Murphy Monitor this week.*

Stop whining! Take it like a man!

The older kids were at school, so dad duty was limited to my younger two. This included lunch, which is always an adventure. This was no exception.

Mom left sandwiches for each child in a plastic container, one white and one purple. Upon seeing that the purple container was designated for him, my four-year old son remarked, “But I don’t like purple.”

To this, the sympathetic Victoria blasted, “Stop whining! Take it like a man!”

From this two-year old I learned a few things: First, kids are great at parroting lines from movies they’ve seen (e.g., “Night at the Museum”).

Second, complaining is unattractive to others. Even kids hate to hear other kids being childish. How’s that for ironic?
We all love to complain, but the complaints of others do not inspire us.

But … Why do we complain? We complain because we think we deserve better than what we’re getting. We think our desires deserve to be satisfied.

But … Why is complaining unattractive to others? They wonder, “Who does he/she think he/she is?” Those aren’t complaining, but that’s because their desires have been met, and in that light a complainer just looks selfish and childish. The complainer can give the impression that his/her desires are more important than those of anyone else.

But … Why is complaining so unattractive to God? God is the one who is running the universe and doing so in a way that seems best to Him. Complaining is in essence criticism of His management of the planet, including our own little universes.

The Bible says to “Do everything without complaining and arguing” (Philippians 2:14, NIV).

I think that can be done, with God’s help, but only if we really understand Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (NIV).

If you are a Christian, one who loves God and had been called according to HIS purpose, you can be confident in God’s promise that all you encounter will be for your own good. You may see how things work out for your good with the 20-20 hindsight, but other times you may just have to take it by faith, taking it “like a man,” that is.