Me......complain?

https://youtu.be/P6pcnWbPVig

These days I would say there is one action that there is no shortage of. It is one that news anchors do, that many bloggers do or that we do on our own. What could it be? Let me give you Bible readers out there a hint. The Israelites were really good at it after they were freed from Egypt. Ok, made your guess? The answer is...complaining. I wish it wasn’t true but, especially these days, we complain about everything! We complain about Amazon running an hour late. We complain about the internet being .5 seconds slower than it was yesterday. We complain about our order taking too long. We complain about wearing mask. We complain about Republicans. We complain about Democrats. We complain. We complain. We complain.

This is not new however. As I stated previously the Israelites were known for their complaining long, long ago. It tells us in Exodus 16:1-2 that:

“Then the entire community of Israel departed from Elim and entered the desert of Sin, which is located between Elim and Sinai. They arrived there on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from Egypt. As soon as they got to the desert of Sin, the entire community of Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron.

Notice, they had barely left Egypt! God rescues them from horrible slavery that their people had endured for 210 years in Egypt yet, they had only been gone 2 months and 15 days before the complaints kicked in! I liken it to going on a road trip with your family and not 4 hours into the car ride is everyone complaining about something. Kids too close. Wife too cold. Husband too hot. Everyone complaining.

It was no different for the Israelites. They were just using camels and caravans instead of horsepower and minivans. They sat and murmured, grumbled and complained. About what you ask? They were hungry. I think it would be safe to say hangry by the way they were complaining.

Now, I am known to get hangry from time to time, so I share that trait with the Israelites. However, the characteristic I resonate the most with is, to complain without realizing where my complaints are really aimed. To better understand what I mean, let’s look at Exodus 16:6-9

“When evening falls, you will know that the Eternal has led you out of the land of Egypt. In the morning your eyes will see His glory because He takes your complaints against us as complaints against Him. Who are we, that you direct your complaints to us?

Moses (continuing): This will take place when the Eternal One provides you with meat in the evening and plenty of bread in the morning because He hears all your grumbling and complaining against Him. Why do you complain to us? Your complaints are not against us, but against Him.

The Israelites are complaining, grumbling, murmuring and rebelling, they believe, to Moses and Aaron. They have set their frustrations onto Moses and Aaron as if they are the ones that placed them in the situation they were in. As if they were the ones that were directing their steps out of the wilderness into the promised land. The truth is, it has nothing to do with Moses and Aaron. If the Israelites believed that God was Sovereign over all, then they must have understood the truth that Moses pointed out to them in verse 7.

“Who are we in all this? You haven’t been complaining to us - you’ve been complaining to GOD!”

(The Message; emphasis mine)

The painful truth is, if I believe God is the Author and Creator of all things, Sovereign over all, then I have to accept what Moses says as well. Each and every time I grumble. Each and every time I complain, I am doing so towards God, not towards the person or circumstance I am aiming my attack. I am saying to God that I don’t trust Him. That I don’t believe Him to be faithful. That I don’t believe He has my best interest at heart. No matter what name I put in front of my complaint. No matter what circumstance gets my grumblings. It’s ultimately towards God.

No matter how hard it is to swallow, that means that even the hard situations, yes, even a pandemic, and the effects on me, are all in His control. They are all under His Sovereignty. So my many grumblings are not toward government and their decisions, but toward God and His plans for my life. Grumblings against God’s ways and not trusting His ability to use events, big and small, good or bad, to transform me into a “new creation”. So the ultimate question becomes, “Do I trust God to provide my every need, in every situation, as He promises in His word?”.

As I read what Moses said and evaluated my life through that lens, it hurt. To think about all the times I complain, especially lately, and to see how that reveals, at heart, that I lack the trust to believe that no matter what, God will work all things for my good (Romans 8:28). Instead of believing that truth, I look around at what surrounds me and, like the Israelites, I forget about what God did to show His faithfulness and protection of me, just a mere “2 months and 15 days ago”.

Honestly, had I stopped reading at verse 8, I think I would have been crushed under the weight of it all. The heaviness of realizing my complaints towards a pandemic or any other circumstance were actually towards God, would have been too much for me to bear. But thankfully, there was more! Exodus 16:9-10,

(to Aaron) “Tell the entire community of Israelites, “Draw near to the Eternal. He has heard your complaints.” While Aaron was speaking to the entire community of the Israelites, they all looked out toward the desert, and the radiant glory of the Eternal could be seen in the cloud.”

Before we can catch the good news in this, we have to see the beautiful thing God does. Notice it says God told Aaron to “tell the entire community”. Why is that important? Look back at verse 2 where it says:

“the entire community of Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron”.

The entire community complained. By God saying “tell the entire community”, He made sure everyone knew, no matter what role they played in the complaints they could still “draw near to the Eternal”.

I don’t know about you, but that is good news! I needed to hear that no matter what role of complainer I take, that I am still welcome to “draw near to the Eternal”. If I am the instigator. The initial spark of complaint. I still can draw near to the Eternal. Or maybe, with my words, I am the air that gives the spark life. Making it become a fire that grows and consumes everyone around it. I am still welcome to draw near to the Eternal. But what more could God be saying when He tells Aaron to “tell the entire community to draw near to the Eternal”?

To grumble and complain to others about the different situations and circumstances I find myself in doesn’t accomplish anything more than to create dissension, bitterness and more complaining. The Israelites were 2 million people yet, from one complaint, the entire community complained! Just like we read with the Israelites, when I complain to others it spreads frustration and, as the Bible tells us all here, a rebellious heart.

We must “draw near to the Eternal”. The Lord heard the complaints of the Israelites and even answered them, when their complaints were aimed at Moses and Aaron, but He is telling us here, instead of going to one another, we must first draw to Him. That will be what brings about resolution. God understands that it will be hard at times for us to trust He is working and will work all things for our good. He knows in those moments complaints will arise. He’s not saying don’t complain. He is saying, “complain to me”.

Where are you taking your complaints? Do you first turn to a friend, or husband, or even a perfect stranger? Or do you first take your complaints to the One that is Sovereign over all?

“Draw near to the Eternal”. He is the only one that can turn our complaints into His plan and purpose. And when we do, we may see “the radiant glory of the Eternal” shine into our circumstance and bring about peace.