Exodus 16:8 “Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the Lord hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him, And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the Lord.”
Complaining. We all do it. Some people more than others. You may know someone who seems to have that as their main personality trait!
As I was reading in Exodus chapter 16, the Israelites were complaining about having no food in their new wilderness location. They complained to Moses and he said basically, “You’re complaining to me, but the real one you are complaining to is God.” Preachers love to preach about these verses and the lesson being taught is that God provides.
But I’m making it personal this morning. We complain about the government, about high prices and greedy businesses. Complain about our neighbor, our in-laws, our co-workers or the teachers at school. It just hit me that a lot of the complaining we are doing, God sees it for what it really is. It is directed at Him.
If we are really truthful, what we are saying to God is, “Why don’t you give me a better life?” “Why can’t I have the life that I think I deserve?” If we can look at complaining in that way, maybe we won’t do it quite as often. A better option might be to try to see the things God has already brought us through and to talk to Him about our present problems and trust Him that He can bring us through those as well. Trusting and complaining can’t occupy the same space. Let’s let Trusting grow in our lives today and complaining will have to live elsewhere.
Harriet Bowman