no te quejes

[Today's blog post will be written in Spanish, because I just don't have the right words in English.

Just kidding.]

I've been listening to a worship CD that has a song with the line "we rest in Your unfailing love."

It hit me with a thud while I was playing it again today, because all morning I'd been mulling the question from Ecclesiastes 7:10, "Why were the former days better than these?" (I did not inquire wisely concerning this), comparing my now to other times that seem to have been more exciting or interesting. My spirit was complaining.

In Spanish there's a word that I think describes that complaining attitude pretty well: quejar.

Quejar can mean to complain or cry out in pain, or just to be annoyed or bothered, or to protest something that seems wrong, or even to legally complain against someone. It's often used as a reflexive verb, so that you're literally making yourself do this whatever-it-is. To say "no te quejes" to someone could mean, depending on the context, anything from "stop your whining!" to "don't worry, it's all going to be all right."

Anybody who's busy quejandose is definitely not in a state of rest. Whether the quejas are inspired by pain, annoyance, or injustice, they just can't co-exist with peace and rest.

And that's what I heard coming from the words in the song:

No te quejes. Rest.

Your Father's love is steadfast, faithful, never ending. He knows when you cry out in pain. He offers forgiveness for your offenses and commands you to forgive those who offend you. He sees and knows the injustice your heart protests and He will not tarry to set things straight. He is faithful Who promised. No te quejes.

I know this truth of His unfailing love. How -- instead of exhibiting complaint and doubt -- can my life come to exhibit my faith in that truth?

(Here's some good reading for more about what His unfailing love is all about.)