Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. Numbers 11:1
There are some people, that no matter what is going on, they like to complain. Things are never good enough for them. They are always looking at the negative side of things.
Workers will complain that their boss is horrible and is too rough on them, so one will leave that job for another job. At the new job, the same complaints will rise up again. It does not matter if something was improved or not, there are still more to complain about. People want a perfectly smooth sailing life, through every situation.
The Israelites had been crying out to God for mercy while they were in Egypt under slavery. They felt the burden of slavery, though they had a place to stay and three meals a day.
They were excited when God miraculously brought them out of Egypt. However, within a short time, while traveling in the wilderness, they found more to complain about. Even though they were being fed three meals a day, without having to work for it, they wanted to go back to Egypt and complained. God’s anger was aroused and He struck them.
There are many today who are the same way. They will always find things to complain about. Some believers are very guilty of this same thing. They always find things to complain about in the church, the sermon was too long/short, another person did not do something right, the chairs are too hard, the worship too long/short, or some other complaint.
They also complain about their work, family, the weather, and the list goes on.
Things could always be better, but as a believer, you must trust that God is already giving you what He thinks is the best for you. Instead of complaining, thank God for what you do have. Things can also always be worse.
Take time to give thanks for the blessings in your life. Take your eyes off of what you don’t have or how bad things are and focus on what is going right, such as, you have food, clothing, salvation, God on your side, and you are still living.
Don’t arouse God’s anger with complaining and seeing only the negative. God is blessing you, even today.
I pray today that you will see God’s blessings in your life; that you will give God praise for what you have; that you will trust God with what you are going through; and that you will never complain to God about anything.
Reminds me of someone I know who was always complaining about her various flatmates. Another friend commented that if she never gets on with any of her flatmates, maybe the problem is with her, not them!
We often attempt to pin the blame on God when invariably it’s our problem!
Thanks for the post brother, it’s an important reminder!
Robert, good point about it often being our fault/problem, not the other person. May we never be guilty of complaining. Thank you for reading and the comment.