What's That You Say?

I recently taught a lesson in my middle school class at church about complaining and murmuring, most were unfamiliar with the latter. They may not have known the word but they sure knew how to do it!

Murmuring or complaining is one of those sins that is overlooked.  Sometimes we get so focused on the “big sins” such as murder and adultery that we overlook this sin — but the Lord doesn’t give this sin a free pass — quite the opposite.  It’s a killer!  This sin unleashed a plague that killed thousands of Israelites! [Numbers 16]

In this passage, we read how the Israelites, who were desperately thirsty, looked only at the fact that the water they had come to was bitter and undrinkable. How quickly they forgot their God had led them out of Egypt with signs and wonders. They had just witnessed His dividing of the Red Sea and destruction of those who had enslaved them. And yet, they returned to looking only with their natural eyes at the problem in front of them, completely forgetting the miracle working power of their God! And so they murmured against Moses. But honestly, weren’t they really murmuring against God? Once again, Moses interceded for them, revealing the faithfulness of His God to answer every impossible dilemma and provide for every need. He set the example: they simply needed to go the Lord!

So often, like the Israelites, we focus on our desperate situation with our physical eyes, rather than eyes of faith, and fall into the trap of complaining. And if you’re like me, once I start, it can be really hard to stop. Until the Lord stops me with a small question: ‘Aren’t you really complaining against me?’  I have to remember I actually hinder the Lord’s answers to my problems by unbelief…murmuring!

Let’s not allow this sin to gain a foothold — because it can easily become a stronghold! The same wonder working God that led the children of Israel out of Egypt is still at work today — but are we hindering Him? If we are grumbling and complaining, the answer is, “YES!” And in so doing, until we stop, we are missing out on His answers and blessings which are waiting in the wings to meet our faith in Him!