God's Complaint Department
Scripture: Numbers 11:1-3, 5-6, 34-35
"Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people screamed to Moses for help, and when he prayed to the Lord, the fire stopped...4 Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt. And the people of Israel also began to complain. “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed. 5 “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. 6 But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna...33 But while they were gorging themselves on the meat—while it was still in their mouths—the anger of the Lord blazed against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague...there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt."
Observations:
As they wandered in the wilderness en route to the Promised Land, God's people developed a bad habit of complaining along the way any time their needs weren't being met and naturally they blamed either God, Moses, or both for their troubles. But what they didn't anticipate was that God heard every word of it (vs. 1). After God's people started complaining, it quickly affected the others who were with them (vs. 4), which only caused the rest of the Israelites to complain even more. Despite the fact that God gave them exactly what they wanted (in fact more than enough) as a way of disciplining them, He thought it necessary to stop the complaining at the root of the problem by destroying both sets of whiners in a single chapter by burning them to death with fire. You'd think that the rest of the people would have learned their lesson the first time and got the hint that God absolutely hates complaining. What's even worse is that had God's people simply humbled themselves and kept their focus on God's miraculous power in the midst of their situation and call out to Him in faith to provide, He was more than willing and able to do so.
Application:
There's a big difference between expressing a legitamite need and pure griping. I don't know of a single parent who enjoys listening to their kids complain or whine about something they don't have. How can we expect God to be any different with us? There's nothing redeeming about persistent whining because it is always counter-productive. There's just something about complaining that shifts our focus off of God and onto our problems. It's when we find ourselves overwhelmed by difficult situations or consumed with our own selfishness that we are most likely to offend God with our lack of faith in His ability to do for us what we can't do for ourselves. We usually don't have a problem giving good things to our children just because we love them, but there's just something about complaining that has the exact opposite effect. When we find ourselves in need, we can't afford to allow circumstances to shift our focus away from the One true source from whom all good things come (James 1:16) if we will simply ask in faith (James 4:2) and in accordance with His will (1 John 5:14-15).
Prayer:
Father, forgive us for allowing the circumstances of our lives to negatively affect our attitude towards You. Help us to appreciate You and focus upon You as our source. Align us with Your will and develop in us the kind of faith that can believe You for anything. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
"Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people screamed to Moses for help, and when he prayed to the Lord, the fire stopped...4 Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt. And the people of Israel also began to complain. “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed. 5 “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. 6 But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna...33 But while they were gorging themselves on the meat—while it was still in their mouths—the anger of the Lord blazed against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague...there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt."
Observations:
As they wandered in the wilderness en route to the Promised Land, God's people developed a bad habit of complaining along the way any time their needs weren't being met and naturally they blamed either God, Moses, or both for their troubles. But what they didn't anticipate was that God heard every word of it (vs. 1). After God's people started complaining, it quickly affected the others who were with them (vs. 4), which only caused the rest of the Israelites to complain even more. Despite the fact that God gave them exactly what they wanted (in fact more than enough) as a way of disciplining them, He thought it necessary to stop the complaining at the root of the problem by destroying both sets of whiners in a single chapter by burning them to death with fire. You'd think that the rest of the people would have learned their lesson the first time and got the hint that God absolutely hates complaining. What's even worse is that had God's people simply humbled themselves and kept their focus on God's miraculous power in the midst of their situation and call out to Him in faith to provide, He was more than willing and able to do so.
Application:
There's a big difference between expressing a legitamite need and pure griping. I don't know of a single parent who enjoys listening to their kids complain or whine about something they don't have. How can we expect God to be any different with us? There's nothing redeeming about persistent whining because it is always counter-productive. There's just something about complaining that shifts our focus off of God and onto our problems. It's when we find ourselves overwhelmed by difficult situations or consumed with our own selfishness that we are most likely to offend God with our lack of faith in His ability to do for us what we can't do for ourselves. We usually don't have a problem giving good things to our children just because we love them, but there's just something about complaining that has the exact opposite effect. When we find ourselves in need, we can't afford to allow circumstances to shift our focus away from the One true source from whom all good things come (James 1:16) if we will simply ask in faith (James 4:2) and in accordance with His will (1 John 5:14-15).
Prayer:
Father, forgive us for allowing the circumstances of our lives to negatively affect our attitude towards You. Help us to appreciate You and focus upon You as our source. Align us with Your will and develop in us the kind of faith that can believe You for anything. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
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