The Curse of Complaining Mar 11
Num 11:1 And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.
A person's words reveal the state of their heart. If there is always negative and fault-finding, there is a critical spirit; if there is always talk about obtaining things, it is greed; if there is always telling about problems, there is self-pity.
The children of Israel had a problem with complaining revealing a heart of discontent to the Lord. Here God was providing daily manna to the people, but it wasn't good enough. They wanted the fruits and vegetables from years gone by. Instead of looking forward to the promise ahead of a land with milk and honey, they were looking back at what was before-even slavery! As a result they never got to go to the new land, and many died along the way. This is a picture of some who come to Christ. Instead of dreaming of the end glory in heaven, they revel in the glory days of their slavery when they were in the world. God does not promise us a carefree life on our way to our promise land. He does allow tests of our faith to see where our hope and desire is. Let us never forfeit what He has for us due to a complaining spirit or looking back. We can counteract this human tendency by looking forward to what God will do (not what He is not presently doing) and being thankful and content just to be with him.
A person's words reveal the state of their heart. If there is always negative and fault-finding, there is a critical spirit; if there is always talk about obtaining things, it is greed; if there is always telling about problems, there is self-pity.
The children of Israel had a problem with complaining revealing a heart of discontent to the Lord. Here God was providing daily manna to the people, but it wasn't good enough. They wanted the fruits and vegetables from years gone by. Instead of looking forward to the promise ahead of a land with milk and honey, they were looking back at what was before-even slavery! As a result they never got to go to the new land, and many died along the way. This is a picture of some who come to Christ. Instead of dreaming of the end glory in heaven, they revel in the glory days of their slavery when they were in the world. God does not promise us a carefree life on our way to our promise land. He does allow tests of our faith to see where our hope and desire is. Let us never forfeit what He has for us due to a complaining spirit or looking back. We can counteract this human tendency by looking forward to what God will do (not what He is not presently doing) and being thankful and content just to be with him.
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