Habakkuk: Lamenting is good; Whining is bad

AI was not used to generate this post.

Are you a complainer? Do you have a habit of whining when things don’t go your way? The Bible calls it grumbling, and God hates grumbling. So what do you do when you are faced with something you don’t like or don’t understand? We can learn from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk how to handle that in the right way.

Surrounded by Whining

We live in a culture of complainers. Everywhere we turn, we hear complaints. The culture’s bad. The neighbors are bad. Life’s not fair. Why can’t we have what we want when we want it? You know what I am talking about.

Before Facebook came along, I used to get several forwarded emails per day from my friends filled with outrages regarding our “dying” culture. I got so tired of receiving those forwarded emails. Rather than passing them along, I deleted them without even reading them first.

Now, my Facebook feed is often filled with alarm signals through a cleverly worded poem, a scathing video, or someone’s blog about how bad our society is. I skip those Facebook posts. I consider them to be a waste of my time. They might be a waste of your time too.

We humans “drink the whine.” Then, we get riled up, pass it along to rile others up, and wait for the next one to come that we can share. Here is the truth: whining about life is not very effective for changing anything.

It is a trap, this whining and pointing fingers at whatever is your thorn in life because it doesn’t meet your expectations of acceptable outcomes. That reminds me of how movies portray women when they see a mouse—jumping up on a chair, stomping feet up and down, hands waving in the air and yelling. That makes for a great movie scene. But it’s not very effective for getting rid of the mouse!

The Difference between Lamenting and Whining

Crying out in anger and frustration to God is biblical. Many of the psalms do that. It is called lamenting.

To lament means “to mourn, to express one’s deep grief about, to express regret or disappointment over something considered unsatisfactory, unreasonable, or unfair.”

In the Bible, a lament is a prayer expressing sorrow, pain, or confusion. It is a way to process grief in God’s presence.

A lament psalm says to God, “I’m in trouble, you’re not listening, they are winning, but I‘ll trust in you.” (Dr. Alex Gonzales, DTS free course “1 Samuel”)

Genuine lamenting comes from a heart that admits you are deserving of nothing. You have a heart of humility before God. Lamenting is honest-to-God dialogue.

Whining, on the other hand, presupposes that you are entitled to something and usually contains selfish motives. “I want what I want when I want it—now! And do it my way!”

Lamenting takes whatever problems you see and carries them into the presence of God, giving Him opportunity to teach you something from it. Usually, He teaches you something about yourself or teaches you how to want His will more than your own. That is what Habakkuk discovered.

Lessons from Habakkuk

The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk wrote during the time of Babylon’s threat to Jerusalem from 610-586 BC. Habakkuk is someone who remained faithful to God, perhaps influenced by the godly leadership of Josiah as he grew up. Now, he questions why God is permitting the wickedness to go on in Jerusalem.

Read the blog, “2 Chronicles 34-36 • God’s Steadfast Love Renews Us” for more information about his time period.

Why, God?

Here is how Habakkuk begins his lament:

How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. (Habakkuk 1:2-4)

Habakkuk looked around him, saw all the injustice, and challenged God on why He wasn’t doing anything about it. Habakkuk asked God some more “why” questions and “how could you let that happen” questions.

I listened to a sermon series a few years ago on the book of Habakkuk. The speaker asked this question, “Was Habakkuk lamenting or just whining?”

That question struck me. The answer has stuck in my brain since and challenged my own temptation to complain.

Habakkuk’s stance

Habakkuk didn’t just complain. He stationed himself to listen to God’s response.

I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. (Habakkuk 2:1)

The prophet said that he is stationing himself to listen to and trust whatever God wants to teach him. That is the goal of lamenting.

In the midst of your questions and complaints, stop and bring them to the Lord. Let Him lead you in your thinking about whatever your complaint is.

I like the way this author put it,

Our big problem is that we want to get his [God’s] thinking in line with ours. What Habakkuk is saying is this: ‘I’m going to take all the time necessary to get my thinking in line with God’s.’ Then God, when he has Habakkuk on his tower of meditation, can begin to declare something to him. (Stuart Briscoe, “Hearing God’s Voice Above the Noise”)

No to Grumbling; Yes to Wrestling

Paul wrote this in Philippians,

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, (Philippians 2:14)

Grumbling springs from a bad attitude that is expressed through muttering, whining, and griping. You know very well that we humans have a strong tendency to mutter, grumble, whine, and gripe. And our relationships often feel the brunt of our “ungrateful” and “discontented” attitudes.

It is okay to wrestle with God. We can do so humbly, recognizing His sovereignty over everything—history, culture, your neighbors, or anything else that riles you. But you can’t whine your way to any solution that is godly!

God’s answer

Share the good news

Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. (Habakkuk 2:2-3)

God told Habakkuk to write down what He (God) said to him so that it could be heralded to everyone who needs to hear it. God was working in the situation. He would do something that needed to be done. Spread the word to everyone else who needs to have this confidence in God and trust in Him with this miserable, confusing situation.

That is what Jesus wants us to do as well. We are to spread God’s word more than our complaining. Yes, our culture is broken. It has been for 6000 years since the events of Genesis chapter 3. Yes, we need to be praying that our God will actively work in our culture. But guess what? God chooses to do that through us—you and me individually—as we build into the lives of those around us who need to know Jesus.

Intentional action

The truth is that it is easier for us to whine about our culture than it is to intentionally pray for it. It is more enjoyable to warn everyone about the bad that is going on around us than it is to spend time with and share our faith with the neighbor right next door who is far from the God who created her. Yet, that is what Jesus commissioned each of us to do—to share with her the freedom and joy she can have in knowing Jesus.

We know we should love them and occasionally we think about praying for them. But good intentions are worthless until put into action, until we become intentional at carrying them out. Put the names of your neighbors who don’t know Jesus on a “Pray and Love” list—praying for the Holy Spirit to work in their hearts and draw them to Jesus while watching for opportunities to show Jesus’ love to them. Can you imagine what would happen if we really believed that we could make a difference far beyond passing along an alarmist message?! So we need to stop whining and start befriending.

Yet, if you see a problem and can work toward a solution, that is also better than complaining. When it is possible to change the outcome of a situation or make a difference to those who are already in your daily walk of life, you and I should take action. Even then, we must watch out for grumbling when others don’t see our way. Stop whining, and start being intentional.

Do You Have a Complaint?

Based on the difference between lamenting and whining, if you are just complaining to people around you, whether in person or through digital media, that is WHINING!

If you are bringing your complaints to God, bearing your soul and all your concerns to Him, and asking Him to help you think His way about whatever that complaint is, that is LAMENTING!

Lamenting is healthy for your relationship with God because it means you are taking advantage of the relationship Jesus Christ opened up for you to enjoy with your heavenly Father. It moves you away from focusing on yourself. Lamenting is essential to having perseverance in this difficulties world. Take all the time that is necessary to get your thinking in line with God’s purposes and will.

I like the way this person said it,

Lament, through the Holy Spirit, moves one from “me-centeredness” to “God-centeredness,” … if the motive of my heart is to have an honest, authentic dialogue with God and if I am seeking, in this process of lament, to understand God’s heart and mind and surrender to His will, then I am moving from “me-centeredness” to “God-centeredness.” But, if all I am bringing to God is a laundry list of complaints and entitlement demands, then I am whining. (Lacyn Ward)

That is the difference between lamenting and whining.

My husband suggested that I compose a standard response to every one of those “see how bad our culture is” emails or posts. It might go something like this, “You just spent a couple of minutes reading that email / post you sent me then sharing it with others you know. Did you also spend two minutes praying for your neighbor who needs to know Jesus and planning a time to get together with her?” Sounds harsh, doesn’t it? Oh well, I probably need to soften it up some.

Think about all your recent complaints about what is going wrong in your world that you have voiced to your spouse, co-workers, neighbors, church friends, and anyone else in your life. Are you lamenting or whining?

Listen to the sermon series on the book of Habakkuk by Dr. Wayne Braudrick, “Be Astonished: A Study of Habakkuk,” Friscobible.com)

Related Resources:

• Joseph: God Works It for Good
• Old Testament Men blog series
• Release Your Expectations of Acceptable Outcomes
• 1 Thessalonians 5 • Perspective on Shining God’s Light Now
• Remember Your Identity in a Pull-Apart World

AI was not used to generate this post.