Many Christians who have read the words of the apostle Paul “Do everything without complaining” (Philippians 2:14), accept this teaching in the understanding that if we have true faith we do not ever need to complain, but this is not really true.  The Bible shows there is a right time and a right way to voice our frustrations and complaints in life (see our article “Go Ahead and Complain!” here). 

The Old Testament book of Habakkuk provides a clear example of the kind of complaint that God accepts – and is more than willing to hear – and provides a helpful lesson in faith at the same time.   The prophet Habakkuk lived in a difficult time – when many problems plagued ancient Judah and the nation was clearly about to be crushed by the powerful and brutal Babylonian Empire. 

This was the time in which Habakkuk respectfully took his complaints to God, asking the age-old questions “Why do you allow bad things to happen to good people?” (Habakkuk 1:1–4; 13) and “Why do you allow good things to happen to bad people” (Habakkuk 1:13–17).  In the course of the book, we see that God graciously answers Habakkuk’s complaints and by its end we see the prophet’s faith is greatly strengthened (Habakkuk 3:17–18).  But along the way this book gives us valuable lessons regarding times when we feel we have valid complaints we desire to bring before God.

1. Faith can complain!  Habakkuk shows us as clearly as any other biblical book that God is willing to listen to our heartfelt complaints (they are specifically called complaints at the end of Habakkuk 2:1), and that they need not go unverbalized, which so often leads to the actual degradation of faith.

2. We should expect God to answer. Habakkuk exclaimed “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me” (2:1). The prophet apparently received a direct verbal answer from God and while that may not be our experience, God is able to lead us to find answers if we faithfully expect them.

3. We must be willing to wait for an answer. We saw in the last point that Habakkuk said he was willing to wait till he received an answer and when it came, God told him “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 2:3).

4. We need to remember that God expects us to trust him till the answer comes.  That is how we express faith in our lives rather than simply refusing to honestly voice our complaints. Habakkuk summarized this truth in saying “the righteous person will live by his faith (Habakkuk 2:4 ESV and the majority of translations) – timeless words that are quoted no fewer than three times in the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).

5. We need not doubt that it will work out in the end.  After Habakkuk verbalized his frustrations and complaints to God – and eventually came to see what he needed to understand – he could confidently accept that when God’s time was right “ the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:4).

6. We can rejoice in God’s wisdom. This is clearly a lesson Habakkuk learned: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,” Habakkuk wrote “yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17–18).

7. We should offer praise with our complaint. A final aspect of right complaining that Habakkuk displays is that he combined praise with his complaints – both as he complained to God (Habakkuk 1:12–13; etc.), as well as when he received the answers for which he was looking (Habakkuk 3:19).

The Bible contains numerous examples of righteous individuals – Moses, Job, David, and many others – who complained to God in a sincere and respectful way, and who found answers to their questions. But the book of Habakkuk is perhaps unique in showing us that taking our complaints to God is not only not a lack of faith, but also it can actually be faith strengthening.

Atheists have long pointed to the suffering in the world as “proof” that God cannot exist – claiming that if God were all powerful and all loving, he would not let suffering occur.  But to find the very simple answer to this dilemma of why suffering exists, we need only take a step back from the question and ask why do humans exist? 

The Scriptures make it clear that humanity exists because God wishes to share everything he has with his human children (Romans 8:32) – for all eternity (John 10:28).   But as C.S. Lewis wisely pointed out, God will not give eternal life to anyone who will make themselves and others eternally unhappy.  The only way this can be achieved is to have a physical world in which people are born but cannot live forever unless they choose to live in a way that would make them and others happy – and then those people are given eternal life by God (1 Corinthians 15:49–52).

Once we understand this great purpose of human life and see that a temporary physical existence is necessary before we can be trusted with an endless spiritual existence, it is not difficult to see that while we are physical beings, we have to be capable of experiencing pain.  If we were not, we would unknowingly put our hands on burning hot objects, or injure and destroy ourselves in any of hundreds of other ways.  We have to be able to experience pain – suffering – in order to live in a temporary physical world. 

Some may ask, “Wouldn't it be better if people were not born rather than being born into a life with the potential to experience pain or suffering?” But we should ask ourselves if a newborn baby that has to be slapped on the bottom by the delivering doctor – in order for the sudden pain to jolt it into breathing – would choose not to experience years and years of potentially happy and fulfilling life just to avoid that initial few seconds of hurting? 

In exactly the same way, our experience of pain during the relatively brief years of our physical lifetime will be ultimately well worth enduring for the painless eternity we are offered in the life after this one. This is what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18 ).   Paul goes on to explain this in more detail:

"For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us" (Romans 8:22–24 NLT).

So suffering had to be for a short time if we are to live eternally without causing ourselves or others ongoing pain. But we must also realize that in this life we bring much suffering on ourselves – we all sin, and sin inevitably leads to suffering. Other suffering is accidental, or caused maliciously by others. 

But God does not just allow us to suffer and ignore the fact that we do. He understands that suffering may try our faith. But he knows that if we trust him and endure, our faith is made stronger for being tested (James 1:2–4).  He even uses our suffering to help us. God may allow pain to help us turn to him, to examine ourselves, and to become more like him.  Also, we cannot really learn true empathy and kindness by simply deciding to have these qualities – they often come only by seeing how we need them ourselves when we suffer. Paul says this explicitly: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4).  Even Jesus learned through what he suffered (Hebrews 5:8) and was able to become an understanding helper to us (Hebrews 4:15–16).   When we experience suffering, we also learn more of the depth of the love of Christ who endured immeasurable suffering on our behalf.

And there is yet another, extremely important dimension to the suffering that the Christian may endure. From John the Baptist, who was beheaded (Matthew 14:1–12), to Jesus and the early apostles, the New Testament is full of examples of those who suffered righteously. But if we suffer as a result of our faith – through persecution of some kind – then, as Peter wrote, “you share the sufferings of Christ” (1 Peter 4:12). And as Paul reminds us, we will be rewarded for this: “we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” (Romans 8:17).

Of course, even those who are spared persecution in this life encounter suffering in one form or another – we all do. And when we do, we can not only be confident that this is the only way God could make the world for our eventual benefit, but also that God will use the suffering we endure, if we ask him, to guide and grow us now, and to bless and reward us in that future time when he will end humanity’s temporary suffering, and he “will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4 NLT).  Our present sufferings are, indeed, nothing compared with what God plans to give us as a result of them.

People who study the apostle Paul’s armor of God passage most often focus on the pieces of that spiritual armor: the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, etc. However, I ask you to consider the reason Paul gives for putting on that armor of God. In Ephesians 6:11, Paul writes: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (emphasis mine). Verse 13 continues that theme: “take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” And then verse 14 begins, “Stand firm.”

 Are you picking up a pattern? “Stand firm” is not limited to Ephesians 6. Paul encourages the Galatians to stand firm (5:1), as well as the Philippians (4:1) and the Thessalonians (2 Thessalonians 2:15). James also encourages believers to stand firm (5:8), as does Peter (1 Peter 5:9). Standing firm spiritually is a major theme of the apostles’ teaching.

My favorite “stand firm” passage is 1 Corinthians 16:13: “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” This verse consists of four terse commands, each closely related to the others.

Command 1: Be on your guard. In Greek, this command is expressed in one word: gregoreo. In its secular usage, this was a military term meaning “Be alert! Be vigilant!” Paul borrows this command from the military and applies it to our spiritual warfare against the lies and enticements of the world, the flesh, and the devil. “Watch out!” he commands throughout his inspired writings. Watch out for false teachers and false gospels. Watch out for temptations to stray from focusing on Jesus. Be on your guard!

Command 2: Stand firm in the faith. Paul uses “the faith” here exactly as Jude uses it in Jude 3: “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.” In other words, the faith in which we are to stand firm is the good news about Jesus, that Jesus himself preached: In Jesus, the kingdom of God has come.

Command 3: Be courageous. As in Command 1, this term in the Greek is one word: andrizomai. A more accurate translation might be “Act like men!” Courage is part of that, but the emphasis seems to be upon maturity. “Exercise a mature-in-the-faith courage!” is Paul’s command. Maturity in the faith is a theme throughout 1 Corinthians. In 14:20, Paul has just pleaded with these believers “do not be children in your thinking . . . but in your thinking be mature” (NASB). To stand firm in the faith, one must be mature in the faith.

Command 4: Be strong. A bit more Greek? This command is a verb in the passive voice. Passive verbs receive rather than perform action. A better translation than “Be strong!” is “Be strengthened!” The spiritual strength we need to stand firm in the faith is not something we can create ourselves. It is something God creates within us as we submit to Him in Christ. Be strengthened!

Four spiritual imperatives: Stay alert! Stand firm! Behave mature! Be strong with God-given strength! That’s a recipe for Christian faithfulness.


By Loren Stacy – Reprinted with permission from The Bible Advocate July-August, 2021.