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Numbers 11:4-6 (NKJV)
4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat?
5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
6 but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!”
In the above scriptures we see the Israelites complaining. They were comparing what they had to eat when they were in Egypt against what they were eating as they journeyed to the Promised Land. Interestingly, in all their complaining they were forgetting something huge. That is, in Egypt while they had the food they preferred, they were enslaved.
I admit I have also done this. That is, I have compared “my yesterday” to “my today,” and made my yesterday seem far better than it really was. Looking back, I was complaining most times because of what I could see. This seemed the case as well for the Israelites because in Numbers 11:6 (NKJV) it says: there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes.
Our vision, or what we can see, is limited. As a result, we do not always see beyond our current circumstance. For the Israelites, the current circumstance was that, instead of the fish and vegetables they ate in Egypt, now they only had manna to eat. But what they did not see, because their sight was limited, was that the manna was being provided out of God’s unlimited supply. They also did not see God’s faithfulness in providing manna for them every day. Not one day did God forget to provide for them.
Few believers would say that they like a long wait for their prayers to be answered or for their circumstances to change for the better. But complaining is never good. Here are two reasons why.
First, complaining exposes our lack of trust in God. Proverbs 3:5 (NKJV) states: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding. Even when God seems silent, or we do not like the time it is taking for God to move in our situations, we must trust God.
And second, complaining exposes that we really do not know God. Matthew 6:26 (NKJV) states: Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? God is a wonderful Father who cares for His creation. Just as God cares for the birds, God cares for us.
It is easy to say that we love God. It is harder to live a life where we show our love for God in the way we trust God. A life where, regardless of the challenges, we persevere knowing that God is with us. And a life where, even when we do not fully know what God’s plan is, we remain content and continue to trust God.
God loves us and has a plan for our lives. So let us stop complaining and trust God.
Psalm 48:14 (NIV) states: For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
Except where indicated, scripture references are from the American Standard Version (ASV), Darby Translation (DARBY), or King James Version (KJV) – all public domain.
