If you like to complain, God will give you something to complain about.

Deuteronomy 28:47-48
"Because you did not SERVE the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall SERVE your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things."

Psalm 100:2
"Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing."

Philippians 2:17-18
"But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me."

In the Old Testament, God told Israel to serve the Lord with joy or else! It should have been easy. They had nothing to complain about.

They were saved from Egypt. They watched God destroy Egypt without any help from them. They experienced clothing that never wore out for forty years. They never had to buy or repair a pair of shoes. They never had to plow a field, to plant or harvest. God fed them. Then God set up His house directly in the middle of their camp. If only they would have remembered their salvation, they could have kept their joyful service.

In the New Testament, Paul joyfully served the Lord, and his joyful service led him to the very door of death! Paul had been deserted, beaten, hunted, shipwrecked, and hungry in his joyful service to God. Now at the door of death, Paul says, "I rejoice and share my joy with you! Now you do the same!"

God had given Paul everything to complain about, but he remembered his salvation and his Savior. No circumstance in the life of Paul was greater than the Gift and Giver. Paul concluded that not only did he have nothing to complain about, he everything in his life to rejoice over.

"Rejoice in the same way…"