complaining is for the lazy
I am into day 17 of my 90 days through the Bible plan, and boy is it giving me some perspective. The amount of complaining by the Israelites is almost comical...except that when you realize they are charging God, who had provided for them in miraculous ways, you see it really is quite serious. Every other chapter, it seems, is filled with their bemoaning the fact that God brought them out of slavery... They claim they miss Egypt, where they had plenty to eat. This is so sad. This is so convicting. Knowing where their next meal would come from was more important to them than following God.
We are born with the assumption that life is about us. After all, ourself is the only person we've ever inhabited. Right from the start we see it in little things like "demand feeding." The baby cries, the mother picks it up immediately and nurses it. All else must come to a stop. Infants cannot see life through another's eyes. But we are supposed to grow up in the Lord and not continue to crave only milk.
Perhaps the Israelites forgot that they did not deserve to be the people of God. They had done nothing to earn his favor. They were not wise, or beautiful, or committed, or kind. Not that any of those things would or should win God's favor anyway. Yet they audaciously charged God with doing them harm by taking them out of slavery. In Deuteronomy, God repeatedly tells the Israelites that they are not to presume that God is conquering the people of Canaan for them due to their own righteousness, but in order to drive out the unrighteous people already living there. "Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, 'It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,' whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Deut. 9:4-5
Oh how they needed to hear that. Oh how we need to hear that. God does not answer our prayers or drive away the difficulties of life because we righteously deserve it. Quite the contrary. He does what is best, all around, for us, for his creation, and for His glory. This can bring an enormous level of peace and contentment in every situation, if we will humble ourselves. Knowing that each challenge that comes our way is permitted by an all-Sovereign God and coupling that knowledge with the fact that He will never leave us or forsake us...is settling.
The longer I live, the more I grow sick of my own complaining and desire to be joyful and thankful to God for all that He has given (and not given) me. Complaining is easy...it's just what comes naturally to us as humans. It is for the lazy of heart. Thankfulness in all circumstances is not only the will of God for us, but pulls at our muscles of self-control and will. But as those muscles flex and strain forward, they build up, stronger and firmer. I will never be an athlete. But when it comes to my spiritual walk, I must exercise. Choosing the biblical response rather than the human one, day after day. tempting moment after moment...will result in a trained heart and mind. "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God!...Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him; bless His name!" Ps. 100:1-4
Did you catch those verbs? Those "action words?" Make, Serve, Come, Know, Enter, Give, Bless. These are not lazy words.
We are born with the assumption that life is about us. After all, ourself is the only person we've ever inhabited. Right from the start we see it in little things like "demand feeding." The baby cries, the mother picks it up immediately and nurses it. All else must come to a stop. Infants cannot see life through another's eyes. But we are supposed to grow up in the Lord and not continue to crave only milk.
Perhaps the Israelites forgot that they did not deserve to be the people of God. They had done nothing to earn his favor. They were not wise, or beautiful, or committed, or kind. Not that any of those things would or should win God's favor anyway. Yet they audaciously charged God with doing them harm by taking them out of slavery. In Deuteronomy, God repeatedly tells the Israelites that they are not to presume that God is conquering the people of Canaan for them due to their own righteousness, but in order to drive out the unrighteous people already living there. "Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, 'It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,' whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Deut. 9:4-5
Oh how they needed to hear that. Oh how we need to hear that. God does not answer our prayers or drive away the difficulties of life because we righteously deserve it. Quite the contrary. He does what is best, all around, for us, for his creation, and for His glory. This can bring an enormous level of peace and contentment in every situation, if we will humble ourselves. Knowing that each challenge that comes our way is permitted by an all-Sovereign God and coupling that knowledge with the fact that He will never leave us or forsake us...is settling.
The longer I live, the more I grow sick of my own complaining and desire to be joyful and thankful to God for all that He has given (and not given) me. Complaining is easy...it's just what comes naturally to us as humans. It is for the lazy of heart. Thankfulness in all circumstances is not only the will of God for us, but pulls at our muscles of self-control and will. But as those muscles flex and strain forward, they build up, stronger and firmer. I will never be an athlete. But when it comes to my spiritual walk, I must exercise. Choosing the biblical response rather than the human one, day after day. tempting moment after moment...will result in a trained heart and mind. "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God!...Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him; bless His name!" Ps. 100:1-4
Did you catch those verbs? Those "action words?" Make, Serve, Come, Know, Enter, Give, Bless. These are not lazy words.
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