The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. So tell them, 'As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall--every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.”
As we can see from Numbers 14, the Lord takes grumbling seriously. Here, we see it was so serious that it landed the Israelites back into the wilderness for 40 years! The dictionary defines grumbling as “muttering in discontent; complaining sullenly; to express with complaining.”
We can also see from the passage that God takes grumbling/complaining personally. In Numbers 14 the Israelites were bemoaning the fact that the people in the Promised Land were too great for them and they would never be able to conquer them. Yet, when they complained, God said they had grumbled against HIM. Their grumbling refused to acknowledge God had promised them victory ahead of time and He was in control. When we complain, we are doing the same thing; refusing to acknowledge that He is in control over all our circumstances, (yep-even the small ones). Everything that God allows into our lives is used by Him to make us more dependent on Him and to increase our trust in Him. When we complain, it really means that we don’t believe God is sovereign; that He has a reason and a purpose for allowing every circumstance into our lives.
If we look at the Hebrew word for “grumble,” it also means “to tarry, to stay, to lodge.” This is no accident. As long as we respond to areas of our lives with complaining and grumbling, like the Israelites, we can’t move forward in our walks with God. We will continue to stay “lodged” in those areas until we are finally able to acknowledge his sovereignty and thank Him and trust Him regardless of our circumstances. Only then will we be able to move forward into a closer relationship with Him and to inherit all the blessings He has promised us.
Have you acknowledged that God is Lord over all the circumstances of your life? In what areas have you been “lodged” or stuck? Today, and throughout this week, take note of when you’re complaining; whether in your thoughts or your words. Then tell God you’re sorry, acknowledge His sovereignty, and begin to replace your complaining with praise and thanksgiving that He loves you, is all-powerful, is all-wise, and uses all things for our good.
Cathy Constantz
Writer
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