"Murmur at nothing," marked Charles Caleb Colton, an Eighteenth Century clergyman on one occasion, "if our ills are irreparable, it is ungrateful; if remediless, it is vain."

  Do you ever find yourself complaining simply out of habit? Sometimes our lives may became so filled with church, work and family activities that we have little time left for physical relaxation. We find ourselves complaining over our hectic schedule - even though we love all the things we do and wouldn't want to dispense with any of them!

  And so we gradually become grumblers, complainers - and when someone calls us to task for grumbling we excuse ourselves: "Oh, it's such a little sin after all!"

  The so-called "greater' and more major sins are comparatively easy for the Christian to avoid. To murder someone, to steal something, even to tell a lie - all of these require definite acts of mental decision and preparation.

  Other sins, however, are more subtle and these are the ones that seem to plague Christians in particular. One of the most subtle sins is complaining. Often we may not even think of complaining as a sin, yet the Bible considers it as such. Jude describes complainers as "ungodly sinners" (Jude 15,16) and, while it is indeed a sin which may well characterize the non Christian, it is also true that all too often Christians permit themselves to fall into this snare of the devil. Exactly what is complaining? We are all familiar with the word and the act today, but what does the Bible have to say about the subject? The most common word used in the New Testament for complaining is rendered "murmuring" in the Authorized Version. This comes from a Greek word (gongguzo) which literally means to "grumble."

  To understand the sin of "murmuring", we should see just what it involves in the Bible.

  (1) First of all we find that it involves discontent.In Matthew 20:11, Jesus used the word in His parable of the laborers. The workmen who had labored all day murmured against those who had worked but a short time. "These last have labored but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us" (Matthew YU:l2).

  The word is also found in I Peter 4:9 where it is translated "grudging" and refers to discontent as well: "Use hospitality one to another without grudging."

  (2) We also find that the sin involves disapproval. In Luke 5:30, we find the Pharisees murmuring against Jesus' disciples saying. "Who do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"

  (3) We find that it involves discussion, particularly in the form which we regard as gossip. In John 7:l2, the word is used to describe gossip and speculations concerning Jesus. Here it refers not simply to those who were against Jesus but to those who were favorably impressed by Him as well.

  (4) We find that the sin involves dissension. In Acts 6:1, the word is used to describe the dissension that arose between the Hellenistic Christians and the Hebrew Christians among the church at Jerusalem over the fair and equitable treatment of church widows. In Philippians 2:14, Paul distinctly commands us to "do all things without murmurings and disputings."

  (5) Primarily, however, we find that the sin involves and is often based on disbelief. In 1 Corinthians 10:lO, Paul uses the word twice to describe what was perhaps one of the worst sins of the Israelites in the wilderness, indeed what might be termed their characteristic sin:
murmuring against God in unbelief. (See also Numbers 14:2.)

  We also find this word used to describe the Jews who murmured against Jesus in unbelief because He said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven (John 6:41, 43).

  Can we not find ourselves in these examples? Do we not often complain where there is little to complain about? Indeed, Owen Felltham, an English author of the Seventeenth Century, observed that "we cry out for little pain, when we do but smile for a great deal of contentment."

  How do we overcome our all-too-human tendencies to grumble about everything that doesn't suit us? Primarily, by yielding the control of our lives to the Holy Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians 5:22,23). With such fruit filling our lives, there would be little time for complaining!

  There is, however, no shortcut to becoming the kind of person God wants us to be. Yieldedness to Cod's will comes as we devote ourselves to His word, to prayer, to Christian love and service.

  As we find more joy in doing God's work to please Him and not to please ourselves or others, we will find that we are less inclined to complain about everything that goes wrong. Another word for "complain" in the New Testament is mempsimoiros which literally means "to blame fate." Can we blame fate for our problems when we realize that everything is in the hands of God?

  We need to remember, too, that there is a vast difference between entreating God through prayer and complaining. As we read many of the Psalms (for example, 50:1.3), we find attitudes that would be considered complaining if addressed to man but when addressed to God are actually prayerful supplications.

  No should we overlook the value of honest discontent. We need to be able to reconcile problems that need solving in our lives and in our churches and we need to be able to dea with these with God's help. Such thinqs, however, should be done in a proper, orderly manner and not through complaining, gossiping or forming destructive cliques.

  There is no shortcut to becoming a joyful Christian instead of a complaining Christian. But there is a sure cure for complaining and other undesirable traits in our lives: keep out eyes on the Lord.

  Robert Louis Stevenson told of a ship which was driven by a violent storm toward a dangerous rocky coast. The passengers were filled with fear, expecting the ship to be dashed to pieces at any moment. One old passenger made his way with great difficulty to the pilot house. There he saw the pilot holding the wheel and, slowly but surely, veering the ship away from the rocks and out to sea.

  The pilot saw the passenger and smiled at him. Returning below, the passenger said, "All's well! I have seen the pilot and he smiled at me!"

  When life seems difficult and even dangerous wouldn't we do well to keep our eyes on our "Pilot" rather than expending energy in useless complaining and grumbling?

  "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1,2).