Beyond the Complaints

And since I’m on the topic of listening this week (I’m not sure how that happened, but let’s just go with it):

Listening to the Desires Beyond the Complaints

I’ve moved 53 times in my life. That’s almost twice a year on average. There have been years that I’ve moved five or six time. I’m not talking about the times where I floated between houses with a majority of my belongings in one spot, I’m talking about moving everything every time. No, it wasn’t for the military, but I can sympathize with those in the military who have moved twice as much as I have.

I’m not complaining about moving. I have a feeling there will be some more moves in the future, and I’m excited about the journey God has my family on. But I do want to say this about moving:

A person experiences so many changes, whether it’s moving down the street our across the ocean, and in the adjustment period there are bound to be complaints. However adjusted some of us may be to change, none of us are so adjusted that we’re without complaint. Some of us turn these complaints into prayers, some of us turn these complaints into a venting session, some of us incorporate a lively combination. But all of us who have gone through this kind of upheaval can relate to the Israelites in the desert.

Change isn’t easy.

But there’s a genuine desire beyond the complaints. Water is a real need. It takes a great deal of character and trust not to complain if you’ve wandered in the desert for three days without water. Primal needs often drive primal responses.

Then there’s the forty years of wandering in the desert.

If I didn’t have Christ in my life, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to withstand forty days in the desert, let alone forty years.

You don’t need to listen very hard these days to hear people complaining. Facebook is a cesspool of vents, and I’ve contributed my share.

Complaining is contagious. Yuk.

But there are genuine desires beyond complaints. Sometimes, people just want to be listened to. Really listened to.

Here’s a version of the golden rule I heard from John Paul Jackson:

Listen to others as you would have them listen to you.

When we give of ourselves fully in that way, by listening with an engaged heart, some surprising things begin to take place.

First, we may hear their desires beyond the complaints.

Second, they may stop complaining.

Third, they may pay it forward.

It took me years to begin to pay it forward, and I’m so thankful to those who gave listening ears in the interim.

Have you ever had someone genuinely listen to you in a way that changed your life?