Let me ask you something: what’s the one thing you can’t stay silent about right now?  There’s a holy kind of complaint that God uses to ignite vision.

Ever been to a restaurant and your food arrives a little cold?
Annoying, right?

But if you’re merely concerned, you’ll probably smile and say, “It’s fine” when the waiter checks in. You don’t want to make a fuss. You don’t want to cause a scene.

A complaint is different.
When something really bothers you, a complaint compels you to speak up.
You have to do something.
Concern is usually passive.
Complaint is always active.

One dictionary defines complaint as “an expression of discontent, regret, pain, grief or lament.”
Complaint comes from deep within. It provokes a visceral, emotional response to a problem.

Scripture is full of visionary men and women who were indignant about a situation. Plenty of people were concerned — but concern never moved them to vision or action. Consider these examples:

• For 400 years, the Israelites were concerned about Egyptian captivity. But it took a Moses with a complaint burning in his bones to take a stand.
• A vast Israelite army was concerned about a nine-foot giant named Goliath. It took a teenage David, fuelled by holy outrage, to cut him down.
• God’s people in exile were concerned about their planned destruction under the Persian Empire. Esther was the one willing to risk everything to save her people.

What was different about Moses, David, Esther, and so many others, biblical and historical (Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa)?
They weren’t just concerned.
They were indignant.
Righteously angry.
An injustice was happening on their watch — and they weren’t having it.

Vision is born in complaint.

A dream for a better, God-honouring reality is conceived in pain, outrage, and passion. And there is no shortage of pain in our world today.

Author Paul Scanlan puts it this way: “At the core of every visionary leader’s life is a deep dissatisfaction with how things are. At the root of every history-maker’s calling is complaint.”

We can’t fight for justice for everyone — but we can fight for justice for someone.
And we must.
That’s what it means to be human.
Made in the image of God.
Reflecting the divine in the world.

So let me ask you:

• What is your complaint?
• What gets you out of bed in the morning?
• What is your burning, holy discontent?
• What stirs righteous anger in your belly?

And if nothing comes to mind — I pray God will show you.
We can’t do everything.
But we can do something.
For someone.

So I’d genuinely love to hear from you: What’s firing you up right now?
Drop me an email with your complaint and your vision — your why and your what.

One of my own great passions is bringing leaders together to help each other lead as they'd love to — moving from wobbly, weary, and wounded to renewed confidence, refocused priorities, and refined skills.

That’s why I created the FREE resource, Navigating the Five Landmines of Leadership — a 50-minute, self-guided journey to help leaders overcome burnout, bust-ups, blow-ups, blizzards, and the battles within. If you haven’t already, check it out HERE — and pass it on.