Numbers 21:5 They spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
Cry of oppression and deficiency is not complaining. Complaining is the whine of dissatisfaction. “Complaining tongue reveals an ungrateful heart”- William Arthur Ward. ‘Complaining’ is a contagious disease. When we hang around complainers it is almost certain that we will catch the infection. Complains are exasperations that God is not good enough and He is holding back the best from us. It is an attitude that steals joy and makes us grumpy, impatient and ungrateful. Complaints open the door to the demonic realm to enter and enmesh our lives with a nagging and nitpicking attitude.
The Lord God provided miracle manna from heaven for the Israelites in the desert. They did not have ‘food-to-go” supermarkets in the wilderness. The vast extent of thorny bushes and barrenness had no food supplies, but the Lord was the providence and the provider for His people. He brought water from the rock and showered bread from heaven. Yet, the complainers called the miracle manna as ‘miserable meal’. Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance (Psalm 78:25). It is impossible to be fed-up of eating the same food for 40 years, as nothing on earth can match the cuisine of heaven! Everyday manna would have tasted as good as day 1. They complained not because they were bored by the bread but because they were impatient. But the people grew impatient on the way (vs 4b). They were the ones who delayed their entry into the Promised Land but they grew impatient and complained against God and their leader Moses.
An attitude of ingratitude will only delay our blessings and breakthroughs. Fiery serpents entered the camp of the complaining Israelites as they opened their doors wide for the enemy to barrage and forage. Constant complainers who gripe about their spouse, family, job, church or friends open the door for fiery serpents to ravage their lives.
Don’t hang around with complainers – complaining is a contagious disease:
1. Impatience: Don’t be impatient while waiting for a change, conversion or promotion. God has never been late even once in the past 6,000 years. Becoming impatient makes us angry bitter critics.
2. Ingratitude: Words of our mouth reveal the state of our heart. Ingratitude poisons the heart and pollutes our thoughts and words. Whining is not only graceless, but it can be dangerous. It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood – Maya Angelou.
3. Iniquity: Constant complaining turns into iniquity. The complaining generation did not enter the Promised Land.
Complains are scales on our spiritual eyes that will hide the blessing. Complainers never enjoy the blessing or the breakthroughs.
Psalm 78:41 They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
Prayer: Father in Heaven, you are the God who ordains my step, strides and stops. Please convict and correct me when ingratitude and complaints surge in my heart. Amen.
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