Praise or Complain....Are They Just The Same To God?
By Dr. Bev

What an amazing thought to consider. After fifteen years of experience as a Licensed Clinical Pastoral Counselor I have come to believe that most of us do not really believe God loves us to the same degree when we complain to Him as opposed to when we praise Him.

Many of us clearly understand that our praises are like sweet fragrance to our Heavenly Father. On the other hand I’m not so confident that we believe our complaints are just as important to Him. Sometimes we complain to Him alone, and find comfort in His presence. At other times, when the hurts, disappointments and wounds of our past and present are too much to handle alone, we need another person present to help us in our time of need.

With childhood mental and emotional wounds, counseling professionals have learned that specifically naming the hurt, the loss, and the abuse is the beginning of healing. In the presence of a Pastoral Counselor, wounded souls learn to see their childhood experiences as part of God’s work in their lives, making those painful events and experiences useful to Him. As counselors, our determination is to teach our clients not to look at these events as life-defining, but rather to let go of the hurt and anger that keeps them stuck in a pattern of complaining and never healing.

For my complaint to be effective, I must specifically name it my Heavenly Father. Read the book of Psalms in the Bible if you are still not convinced. God created me and knows my strengths and weaknesses. He knows my pain and the trouble in this world. That is one of the reasons Jesus took on the form of a human body, and one of the meanings of the cross. He experienced my pain, my shame and took from me the punishment I deserve for my selfish, demanding, faithless self. So every time I complain to Him, I invite and allow Him to move into my life with His consistent mercy, His sustaining grace and His unconditional love, which brings me to the maturing process spiritually.

When I come to Him with my complaint His arms are open to me. When I come with my praises His arms are open to me. In either scenario, He wants me to know Him and trust Him well.

Life is so very hard and without the secure belief that He is in control of every chapter and line of my story, my complaints would be no more than whispering in the wind. But every day He wants me to know how much I need Him and how much He loves me. My praises and my complaints are both invitations, prepared by Him, to climb into His arms to find safety, peace and meaning in this troubled world. How else could I know the meaning of Jesus’ words. “In this world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33