Complaining About Our Lot In Li
Complaining about our lot in life
by the Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniqui- ties have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you.” (Isa. 59: l-2).
Moses was a reluctant leader. When the Lord first called him at the burning bush, Moses doubted his ability to lead Israel out of Egypt. First, he said the people would not believe that he was sent by the Lord. Therefore, the Lord gave him signs to show before the people. Then Moses said he was a poor speaker and slow of speech. The Lord said He would let Aaron, his bro- ther, speak for him.
Clearly, it was not an easy task the Lord sent Moses to accomplish. Not only would he have to face the king of Egypt and his might but, once free of Egypt, he would have to face the seemingly endless murmuring and complaints of his own people. Time and again, the people suffered hardships, grief and fears, begging Moses to lead them back to Egypt, preferring even slavery to what they thought would be sure death if they continued on.
Finally, Moses could no longer bear the complaints of the people and he himself cried out in despair to the Lord: “I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me” (Nu. ll: 14). “Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child, ‘ to the land which You swore to their fathers?” (Nu. ll: llf).
We may feel a sense of sympathy with Moses. Have we not experienced similar feelings in our own life? Often, we find ourselves in a position of responsibility we may have been reluc- tant to fill. There are difficulties and disappointments, not the least of which is the negative reaction of those we are working with and working for in what we are trying to accomplish. Sometimes, we may cry out inwardly with anguish or frustration, “I don’t need this!” Or, “Why me?” Like Moses, we may complain of our lot in life. The burden seems too heavy.
The Lord reassured Moses. First, He told him to gather 70 elders of the people to share in the leadership. Then He remin- ded him that their success would be from Him. “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened?” He asked Moses. “Now you shall see whether My word will befall you or not” (Nu. ll: 23). Moses thought he faced an impossible task, and, for him, it was impossible. But with God all things are possible. The Lord’s arm is strong to carry out His will. So it is that men can succeed at seemingly impossible responsibilities.
One of these is our personal regeneration. The life of Moses pictures this responsibility. We are called to free our brothers from the slavery of Egypt and lead them to the Promised land. Spiritually speaking, we are all slaves in Egypt. We are prisoners of false ideas and attitudes signified by the Egyptian culture. We must obey the cruel king of selfish materialism that demands our total energy in building up treasure houses on earth while completely neglecting the treasures of heaven. The Lord wants to free us from this bondage. He reveals His Divine Law and asks that we guide our life with it. Like Moses, we hang back and find reasons we cannot take this responsibility of leadership, yet we cannot avoid it. And, like Moses, again, we complain of the difficulties of our task.
There is no denying that the task is difficult. The way from Egypt to Canaan, the road to heaven, is filled with stumblingblocks and dangers. The Writings speak plainly of the temptations which we must undergo in the course of spiritual development. “Be it known, ” we read, “that without temptation no one is regenerated, and that many temptations follow on, one after another. The reason is that regeneration takes place to the end that the life of the old man may die, and the new heaven- ly life be insinuated…. No man can be regenerated without a fight, ” the passage continues, ” that is, without spiritual temptation; and also…he is not regenerated by one temptation, but by many. For very many kinds of evil have made the delight of his former life, that is, have made his old life; and it is impossible for all these evils to be suddenly and simultaneously mastered, because they cling to the man very firmly, having been rooted in parents from time immemorial, and consequently are innate in him….” (AC 8403).
Our personal exodus from the bondage of selfish and worldly concerns is a life-long struggle. We cannot “suddenly and simul- taneously” master the evils of our hereditary nature. Time and again, throughout life, we are confronted with them. Whenever the conflict comes between the “old man” with its false ideas and attitudes and the “new man” that the Lord is trying to create in us, we become conscious of the struggle for our life. We feel the pain of temptation combats. This comes in many forms: dis- couragements, griefs, our reaction to criticisms, alienations from friends. Spiritual temptations often are accompanied with natural ones which relate to anxieties in our natural life. These natural temptations do not effect any change in our spir- itual life, yet may prompt us to think about the Lord and His providence and the needs of our spiritual life.
What is our reaction to this new awareness? Often, it is one of complaint. We cry out to the Lord that our burden is too great. We feel it is unfair that we must carry the weight of our hereditary nature. We complain to the Lord.
Throughout the Word, we find examples of complaint. The children of Israel complained that they were slaves in Egypt, but when the Lord brought them out of Egypt, they complained that their lot was worse. They longed to return to Egypt. In the New Testament, we read of Martha’s complaint to the Lord that her sister Mary did not help her with the serving. In the Writings, too, we read of spirits who complained that they were not given a higher place in heaven than others, considering themselves more worthy because of their life of service. These and other ex- amples of complaint help us see the nature of our own complaints in life. The problem is not the difficulties that confront us, but our own attitude about them. This is expressed in the text: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you” (Is. 59: l, 2).
When Moses complained that he was not eloquent, but slow of speech, and therefore could not lead the people, the Lord answer- ed: “Who has made man’s mouth…. Have not I, the Lord?” (Ex. 4: ll). It is the Lord who gives us the abilities and powers to accomplish His will. To doubt this causes our temptations.
It is the same in our own life. We feel we are faced with an impossible responsibility, or an unfair lot in life. Day by day we face discouragements and frustrations. we feel resentful that the Lord has given us such a life. We complain, perhaps in bitter silence, our life darkened by a mood of defeat. Or our complaints may be open as we publicly express our bitterness and anger. We are not content with our lot. We want to blame the Lord for what is happening, or someone else. Actually, the cause of our discontent and suffering is within ourselves. We must give up our own claim to our life. The “old man” in us must be replaced by a “new man” through the process of temptation com- bats.
The Writings teach that temptations are “attended with doubt” concerning the Lord’s presence and mercy. The spirits of hell induce this negative state in us (AC 2338). We are also told that spiritual temptations are usually carried to despair (AC 8351). This despair is illustrated by the outcry of the children of Israel when they felt trapped by the Red Sea. “Were there no graves in Egypt, ” they cried to Moses, “that thou hast taken us to die in the wilderness?” (Ex. l4: 13). “Those who are in despair, which is the last of temptation, think such things,” we are told, “and then they are as it were on the slope, or are as it were sinking down toward hell. But, ” we are told further, “at this time such thought does no harm whatever, nor do the angels pay any attention to it, for every man’s power is limited, and when the temptation arrives at the furthest limit of his power, the man cannot sustain anything more, but sinks down” (AC 8l65: 2).
There is a common belief among religious people that the Lord never gives anyone a burden too heavy for him to bear. This is true in the sense that everyone can be saved, and that with the Lord’s help, nothing shall be impossible. However, the passage just quoted about despair in temptation indicates that we face unbearable burdens. “Man’s power is limited.” In tempta- tion, we reach that limit. If this were not so, our temptation states would effect nothing toward our spiritual progress. The main thing of faith in temptations, the Writings say, is the faith “that salvation is from the Lord alone, and not at all from [man]…. He who when he is tempted believes that he can resist from his own strength, yields…. But he who believes that the Lord alone resists in temptations, conquers….” (AC 8172)
This is a most important teaching for us to understand. The Lord fights for us in temptation. The combat and the pain of the struggle is felt within ourselves, but the power to fight is from the Lord. “The Divine alone can conquer the hells, ” we read (AC 8175). Unless the Divine acted against them, they would rush in like a succession of waves from the ocean, one hell after an- other, such that no man could resist them.
Does this mean we have no part in the fight against evils of life? The Writings are clear that, although the effective power against hell is from the Lord alone, that power cannot be effec- tivein us without our cooperation. We must resist evils as from ourselves and yet acknowledge and believe that it is from the Lord. “If man does not fight as of himself, ” we read, “the good and truth which flow in through heaven from the Lord are not appropriated to him; but when he fights as of himself, and still believes that it is of the Lord, then they are appropriated to him” (AC 8179: 2).
When Israel stood at the Red Sea and trembled at the ap- proach of the Egyptians, Moses said, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord…. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Ex. l4: l3f). This pictures the fact that the Lord alone overcomes the hells. Yet, the Lord then said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel to go forward” (Ex. l4: l5). We must go forward in life. We cannot slack our hands and expect that the Lord will operate in us against our evils. He operates in our action. Instead of dissolving in states of despair, and turning to ardent prayers for help, which, we are told, are of no avail, we must fight against the falsities and evils which are being injected by the hells. “This fight, ” we are told, “is performed by means of the truths of faith….” (AC 8179).
One of the best ways to lift ourselves from a state of despair or complaint is to go forward, to take a positive step to do something. Act according to some truth of faith. This action will be a rallying point for the angels. They can flow into it with the power of heaven to sustain us in our temptation. We will be cheered, then, by a sense of hope or consolation. When we take action, opening our mind to an influx from the Lord, we will come into a clearer sense of the Lord’s mercy and protect- ion. Though natural and spiritual obstacles may remain to be overcome, we will be able to face them with the assurance that the Lord’s arm is strong for our salvation. We will know that temptations must run their course, and that we can endure them to the end.
The Writings reveal the spiritual meaning of our text. “The Lord hears and is able to do all things, but falsities and evils stand in the way” (PP Is. 59: 1-2). It is these, the falsities and evils of our own life, that we must put away. When the Lord rebuked Martha for her anxious concerns as she complained that Mary had left her to do the serving, He did not teach that it was wrong to serve, only that it was wrong to feel self-righteous about it and resentful that Mary did not help. These were atti- tudes for Martha to remove from her life. As she put these away, she could feel a new joy in serving.
We, too, face many obligations and duties in life. At times, we may feel overwhelmed by them. At times, we may com- plain to the Lord that our lot is greater than we can bear. It is, indeed, greater than our proprial or self-centered state of life can bear. When we are in self-centered moods, we can bear very little, and are quick to complain of anything that places demands upon us. We want our way and we want everything to go our way. How fortunate for us this is not what happens. We could never be brought to realize our many shortcomings. Therefore, the Lord allows temptations. By means of them we come to know that “old man” in us that must be replaced with a new. By means of them, we can face and put away that proprial will that makes us so egocentric.
The more we can learn to put aside our will, the more we can follow the Lord’s will. Then, instead of complaint against the Lord for our lot in life, we will find a sense of contentment in what He provides for us. We may attain to the faith of the prophet Habakkuk who ends his short book with this hymn of faith: “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls– Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength…. (Hab. 3: l7-l9).
This is the faith of a man who is content in God, who is confident that the arm of the Lord is not shortened. He endures come what may, with good cheer, with hope, and a sense of conso- lation from the Lord. He carries no anxious concerns about the future, is not jealous of the lot of others, and harbors no resentment against his neighbor. His heart is fixed, trusting in God. “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights great- ly in His commandments…. Surely he will never be shaken; He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord” (Ps. ll2: l, 4). Amen.