Complaining, is probably one of the most wasteful, ungrateful,
selfish things we do. I have to raise my
hand on this one, because I’m guilty of complaining. It’s too hot, it’s too
cold, rains too much, doesn’t rain enough, there’s nothing to wear in my closet
full of clothes, why is this happening to me? etc., etc. We never seem to be satisfied
with what we have been blessed with by God.
Israel, when they were wandering in the wilderness was no different.
God had brought them out of the land of captivity and were taking them to a
land for their own possession; a land he was giving to them that flowed with
milk and honey. But they rebelled against him and he made them wander for 40
years until the first freed generation was to die out. Knowing this, they still complained about
everything.
Numbers 11 gives us insight into their ungratefulness. They complained
about not having meat to eat (v.4), they were better off in Egypt (v.5-6). They
longed for the rich delicacies they remembered from there and not the manna
they were given by God. They seemed to
forget they were slaves in Egypt; abused, worked to death, oppressed and had no
rights. They forgot that God had freed them from this bondage. He was providing
for them with Manna from heaven to eat. They only had to go gather it up and prepare
it. It was more than enough to sustain them on their journey. But yet they
complained it wasn’t what they wanted.
Do we complain when we don’t have the things we formally had
or perceived we had? Do we take a longing
look back to the past and wish we still had the things of the past? I know I have and still do on occasion. Does it change my current situation? No, it doesn’t and never will. Does it bring
back what was? No, of course not. There’s nothing wrong with remembering the
past and the memories that it brings us, but when we long for those things over
what we have now, then we are doing ourselves a disservice and are ungrateful
for what God is giving us now. Paul
wrote about this discontentment.
“… I’ve learned to be content in whatever situation I’m in. I know how to live in poverty or prosperity. No matter what the situation, I’ve learned the secret of how to live when I’m full or when I’m hungry, when I have too much or when I have too little.” – Philippians 4:11
Moses was no better than what verse 4 called the “rabble
among them”. He complained too. In verse 11-15, he questioned God about a
number of things. “What have I done to
displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Did I give
birth to all these people? Where can I get meat to feed them all? I can’t carry
all these people by myself. This burden
is too heavy for me. Just kill me now.”
Are we any better when we complain about our
circumstances? Do we complain because we
may have a heavy burden placed on our shoulders we didn’t personally desire? Do we complain when things don’t go smoothly
or the way we think they should go? I can answer “yes” to these questions. I’ve
questioned God many times as to why things happen the way they have in my
life. Did it change the situation? No, I
just wasted my time being ungrateful for what I have now.
“A godly life brings huge profits to people who are content with what they have. We didn’t bring anything into the world, and we can’t take anything out of it. As long as we have food and clothes, we should be satisfied.” – I Timothy 6:6-8
Job is a prime example of the attitude we
should have when we are faced with events and things we didn’t ask for. His
attitude should be mine always:
“Naked I came from my mother, and naked I will return. The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away! May the name of the Lord be praised.” – Job 1:21
When Job’s wife told him to
give up and die he told her something that I need to tell myself every time I
find myself questioning God or feeling sorry about my current circumstances:
“Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” – Job 2:10
What did the ungratefulness
of the Israelites and Moses bring them?
Verse 16-17, 23-25 of Numbers 11, tell us that Moses had some of the
Spirit taken away from him and placed on other elders of the Israelites. I’m not completely sure what this means, but
I think it means he was no longer looked upon as the only leader of the
people. There were other men who would
share that preeminence with him now.
The Israelites would get what
they asked for, but in verse 18-20 the Lord told Moses, they would eat it for a
month, “until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it”. In verses 31-33
this is fulfilled. God sent so much
quail that it covered the ground three feet high all around the camp. Along with
the quail came something they didn’t anticipate. Verse 33 says, “while the meat
was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the
Lord burned against the people and he struck them with a severe plague.” They
ended up losing their lives over their ungratefulness.
There is an old saying that
says, “be careful what you wish for”.
How true this was for the Israelites and how true it still is for us
today. Sometimes when we complain about something we don’t have or wish for our
circumstances to be different, after we get it or the circumstance changes, it’s
very rarely what we thought it would be like or were expecting. Oftentimes we’re worse off than we were
before. Sometimes this is a hard lesson to swallow. We need to look at our current
situation with thanksgiving in our hearts and be grateful for what we
have.
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – I Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” – Hebrews 13:5
This is not to say, you can’t
work towards bettering your situation, but while we’re in the place we are
currently, we need to be grateful for the here and now. When I begin to question God as to why things
are as they are, I try to bear in mind Job 38-41, especially 40:8. Read these chapters the next time you are
questioning your situation and see how small and insignificant you feel about
your complaining in face of the almighty Sovereign God.
“But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this? – Romans 9:20
What a sobering thought.

No comments:
Post a Comment