Towards the end of October 2023, my sister mentioned a unique 30-day challenge her church was participating in. They called it “No Complaint November: 30 Day Consecration.” In this context, consecration means dedicating oneself to a specific purpose or practice. For instance, in the Christian faith, we take bread and wine (i.e., grapefruit juice and a cracker😊) as symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ during communion.
This challenge aimed to help participants focus on positivity and gratitude by refraining from complaints for an entire month. Ma’am and Sir, I accepted the challenge, and let me tell you, it was tough. As you know, the bible cautions us about the power of our words. God calls us to control our tongues and use them in ways that glorify Him. Slander, complaining, and arguing are just a few ways we dishonor God with our speech.
Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent and discerning if they hold their tongues. Walking with Christ requires us to continuously build our faith, and this challenge was a profound reminder of that. One way we can achieve this is by ensuring our heart posture is in the right place. This requires us to be intentional about refraining from complaining. Complaining is a harmful habit that can erode our faith and harden our hearts.
The challenge provided various strategies to help all participants overcome this tendency and cultivate a more positive and faithful outlook. We used gratitude as a key strategy to shift our focus from what’s wrong to what’s right.. There are many ways to express gratitude for the things we appreciate. Other strategies included daily affirmations, devotions, prayer calls, and journaling. Geez, was I in for a surprise. Initially I thought this would be an easy challenge since I don’t typically complain.
I generally take life as it comes. However, I quickly realized that even if I don’t voice my frustrations, mentally keeping score still counts as complaining. Journaling revealed the types, frequency, and root causes of my complaints, making more aware of my thoughts and attitudes. Becoming more away me realize that the tings I complain about are often minor, yet they seemed huge in the moment. This showed me that the source of my complaints is just distractions preventing me from completing tasks.
The amount of silent complaining happening in my head blew me away. Even if no one else hears it, it still counts as a complaint.
I used to think of it was a quiet conversation within myself, but coming to terms with this was challenging. It felt strange, almost like it wasn’t a sin because no one heard it, yet it was because it was still a complaint.
This realization was a significant and eye-opening part of the challenge.
As time went on, I started to feel like I had control over my complaining. It was as if I could stop it before it even started, silencing the chatter in my mind. That was an incredible feeling. However, while I made progress in guarding my tongue and remaining silent in my head, I found it challenging to consistently muster the strength for gratitude. As time moved about the 30 days, at some point I began feeling as though I had controlled over complaining. I could stop it before I started.
That was a great feeling. A feeling of awareness and progression towards guarding my tongue and just remaining silent when gratitude didn’t feel enough. A common complaint became evident during this challenge: I often found myself saying, “Why is everything so hard?” This compliant didn’t start with the challenge, it had been brewing for several months. I only realized it during the challenge. My hard came from several life challenges such as losing my hair and suffering from chronic sinusitis.
When I realized this was a constant complaint, I knew God was trying to teach me something. On the morning of November 29, while I was cleaning the house, I was listening to the 3rd Hour or Hoda & Jenna. They aired a story aired a story about Tham Luang Cave Rescue in 2018. A journalist from one of the shows interviewed one of the twelve rescued boys. This young man talked about his life prior to the cave, while in cave, and life after the cave.
Throughout his life, he has faced a lot of troubles. While he is thriving at an American College, I thought his perspective on life at such a young age exhibited such wisdom. When asked about the hardships he’s faced in life, he stated, “every obstacle is meant to be.” Immediately I stopped cleaning and was referred to the infamous line “Why is everything so hard?” Maybe our “hard” are ALL obstacles that are all meant to be.
Life lessons to teach us what we need in the moment and perhaps to get to the next step. This young man’s words opened my eyes. Instead of complaining use those moments to be intentional about the thing that is trying to take you down but meant to teach us a lesson. Do you have those “Why is everything so hard” moments? If so, leave a comment of your hard and how you navigate the obstacle.
Ease & Stillness,
Chetoca B.
Lena Walker
💞Loved this read!