The story is told of a wife of a hard-to-please husband who was determined to try her best to satisfy him for just one day. “Darling,” she asked, “what would you like for breakfast this morning?” He growled, “Coffee and toast, grits and sausage, and two eggs — one scrambled and one fried.” She soon had the food on the table and waited for a word of praise. After a quick glance, he exclaimed, “Well, if you didn’t scramble the wrong egg!”
You may know of someone like this man. Perhaps you are this man (as it were). Such a person as the grumbler in our story may remind us of someone who is discontented with life. He or she struggles with happiness; they tend to have a “doom and gloom” outlook on things; they are seldom thankful. They grumble about this, complain about that. Nothing is ever good enough. Being riddled with pessimism they often knit-pick and criticize nearly everything and everyone around them. This type of person is a proficient back-seat driver or armchair quarterback: “They need to do it this way?” – “That’s just stupid!” – “If that were me I’d…” (and so on).
While we all may have an opinion on some issue, the fault-finder believes he or she is everyone else’s measuring stick. More is the pity. The apostle Paul says, “Do not be wise in your own opinion” (Rom. 12:16). He also says, “Do all things without complaining and disputing” (Phil. 2:14; cf. Jas. 5:9). With that said, friend, let me ask you: are you a grumbler?