Complaining Won’t Stop the Rain

“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” was a hit song originally written for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, an American western film starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman. The song promoted the value of looking at the bright side even in the face of endless slights and struggles:

But there’s one thing I know:

The blues they send to meet me

Won’t defeat me; it won’t be long

Till happiness steps up to greet me.
 

Raindrops keep falling on my head

But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turning red;

Crying’s not for me,

‘Cause I’m never gonna’ stop the rain by complaining.

Still, complaining is arguably one of the most prevalent habits in society, reaching across all socioeconomic strata without exception. Complaining gets its claws into people of all ages, young and old alike. Why? Why do we want to vent our frustrations at so many points in our lives? Is it because we’re trying to convince others—and ourselves—that we should be excused from having to accept our circumstances? Do we complain in the hopes of finding someone who will fix our predicament and relieve us from the responsibility of fixing it ourselves? Perhaps complaining is the verbal alternative to working things out.

Complaining is an effort—perhaps unconscious, perhaps not—to enroll others into our misery, thereby justifying that misery. It then becomes a dysfunctional, vain attempt to reassure ourselves that our position is valid. Complaining will never take the place of positive, solution-finding, positive-mindset-generating, self-empowering doing something about the problem—and it’s also bad for your brain and overall bodily health.

Yes, there are times to share our burdens, frustrations, and unhappiness. However, rather than reaching out for genuine emotional support or seeking tangible solutions, many people resort to complaints as conversation starters: “Isn’t the traffic terrible?” “Hasn’t the weather been just awful?” “The news is always so negative!” The one thing these seemingly unrelated complaints have in common is that there are no solutions—and complaining won’t stop the rain.

Complaining does make many appearances in Scripture. The ancient nation of Israel started complaining within days of being miraculously freed from Egyptian bondage (Numbers 11:1). Then the Lord delivered food to their doorstep—and the Israelites complained (Numbers 11:6; 21:5). People of the first century complained about the teachings of Jesus (John 6:41). The Apostle Paul, showing the relevance of the Exodus to us today, lists complaining among the litany of bad behaviors we are to avoid (1 Corinthians 10:1–11). Additionally, the Apostle Jude lists complaining as one of many attitudes condemned by God (Jude 16).

The God of the Bible tells us that changing our perspective is key to resisting the temptation to complain. We are to learn to cast all our cares on Him, knowing that He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). We can maintain a positive mindset in any circumstance if we pray for God’s help, strive to remember His goodness (Psalm 105:5), work to replace complaining with continuous thanksgiving (1 Thessalonians 5:18), and remind ourselves, “Rejoice always” (1 Thessalonians 5:16). It’s impossible to complain while rejoicing and being thankful.

The Apostle Paul tells us what we should be mindful of. He offers us alternatives to complaining in his letter to the congregation in Philippi, writing, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

Setting our minds on the big picture (Matthew 6:33) and on the purpose of life (Revelation 5:10) will help inconveniences fade into the inconsequential—no matter how many raindrops keep fallin’ on our heads!

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You can get started on becoming content in all circumstances and focusing on what really matters by ordering a free copy of What Is the Meaning of Life? or by reading it right here at TomorrowsWorld.org.