Shine Like Stars

Shine Like Stars In The Sky

9.6.23 [Philippians 2:14-15] River of Life (Monthly Devotion)

If I could give this place 0 stars, I would. Buckle up if you’re reading reviews online and they start with this sentence. Sure, there are businesses that don’t do right by their customers. It’s nice to be forewarned. But when someone starts a review with the sentence: If I could give this place 0 stars, I would. more than likely you’re reading a review from someone who really loves to complain.

Complainers aren’t just a problem for companies. Almost no one likes to spend time with a chronic complainer. They drive us crazy. Chronic bellyache about things everyone has to deal with—traffic, the weather, and gas prices. They make projects at work painful. Their social media reads like a digital airing of grievances. Chronic complainers act like everyone and everything is out to get them. And their incessant dissatisfaction has a way of sucking the joy out of a room.

In Exodus, we follow a group of chronic complainers—the children of Israel. They weren’t always complaining. But, they did complain a lot. First, they complained about being slaves. God heard them and did something. He sent Moses to set them free. God also sent 10 plagues to free them from slavery in Egypt. But after they left Egypt, Pharaoh changed his mind. When the Israelites heard the chariots of Egypt thundering their way they assumed that they were going to die in battle. So they complained to Moses: (Ex. 14:12) Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, Leave us alone and let us serve the Egyptians? It would be better for us to do that than to die in the desert! Again and again, we hear the children of Israel complaining about what they don’t have, what they have to go through, and why going back to Egypt would be better. Did they forget who God is and all he had done for them?

Yet, we could ask ourselves the very same questions. We complain when God’s timeline and ours don’t line up. We complain when God’s idea of how to deal with some issue doesn’t align with our idea. We complain when things never seem to go our way; when it feels like we can never catch a break; when life strikes us as unnecessarily difficult. We complain when our goals remain unrealized. When we get into a cycle of complaining, we tend to lose sight of joyful things.

So what should we do? We’ve got to recognize that complaining is sinful. Here’s what Paul says: (Philippians 2:14-15) Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.

Now, maybe, God’s goal of not grumbling or complaining seems as unreachable for us as the stars in the sky. But it does sound good, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be great to do everything without grumbling or arguing? How can we get there?

We must remember who we are. Children of God. We have been set free from our slavery to sin by God’s power. We are the very stars in the sky that God challenged Abraham to count. We are beloved by our heavenly Father. And our God gives us so many good things.

Everything in our lives that is good and perfect comes from him. We don’t always recognize how good or perfect these gifts are right away. So we must listen to God’s Word. There he assures you: Your Father in heaven knows what you need and he provides it. (Mt. 6:32) Seek first his kingdom. He will take care of the rest. Your God promises: (Rom. 8:28) he is actively working out all things for your good.

Your God wills what is best for you—for you to be with him for eternity. That’s why he sent his Son. That’s why Jesus lived and died. That’s why he rose from the dead. And Jesus sacrificed himself joyfully—without grumbling or complaining.

How does that help us to cut out the complaining? Nothing in life or in death can separate us from God’s love. If that’s secure—and it is!—then nothing that happens to us can thwart God’s plan for you. In fact, even when bad things happen, even when you are frustrated and disappointed, your sovereign God is powerful enough to use that to accomplish his wonderful plan for you and all his children. We don’t have to grumble because God will accomplish his goal for us.

Yet, we still recognize that there are things in this world and in our lives that are not the way that God wants them to be either. If anyone should be giving this wicked and crooked world “zero stars” it is our perfect Heavenly Father. But instead, he blessed this world with the presence of His Son, our Redeemer, and us his children. We are called to glorify God, not grumble. We are called to praise and thank him, not complain. There are times and places where that is easier said than done.

Christians don’t just bite their tongues when they feel like complaining. We present our cares to God. Convert your complaints to prayers. When the thing we want is something God says he wants—like personal spiritual growth or the advancement of his kingdom—pray fervently and without ceasing, rather than complaining frequently and incessantly. As we pray, we humbly recognize that God hears and acts. After all, we are his own children. And he made us to be his bright shining stars that guide the people living in darkness to his wonderful light—Jesus—who is the light of our salvation.