Tag: grumbling

Evicting Complaints (Exodus 16:1-8)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

On the fifteenth day of the second month after the Israelites had escaped from Egypt, they left Elim and started through the western edge of the Sinai Desert in the direction of Mount Sinai. There in the desert they started complaining to Moses and Aaron, “We wish the Lord had killed us in Egypt. When we lived there, we could at least sit down and eat all the bread and meat we wanted. But you have brought us out here into this desert, where we are going to starve.”

The Lord said to Moses, “I will send bread down from heaven like rain. Tell the people to go out each day and gather only enough for that day. That’s how I will see if they obey me. But on the sixth day of each week they must gather and cook twice as much.”

Moses and Aaron told the people, “This evening you will know that the Lord was the one who rescued you from Egypt. And in the morning you will see his glorious power, because he has heard your complaints against him. Why should you grumble to us? Who are we?”

Then Moses continued, “You will know it is the Lord when he gives you meat each evening and more than enough bread each morning. He is really the one you are complaining about, not us—we are nobodies—but the Lord has heard your complaints.” (Contemporary English Version)

Every person on planet earth knows what a complaint is. That’s because we’ve all complained about something and we’ve all been the brunt of someone else’s complaining. To handle grumblers, we need to first deal with our own complaining spirit. 

Early in the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve disobeyed God. That caused their attitudes to change. Whereas their original reflex responses in the Garden of Eden were to enjoy God and be open, their automatic emotional reflexes after the fall were to hide, blame, and guard themselves. 

Adam’s first response to God after his disobedience was to point the finger at Eve: “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”  And Eve’s initial reflex attitude was to shift the blame, as well: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3).

Ever since, people have had an automatic attitude of blaming, quarreling, and complaining. The heart drifts toward complaint as if by some gravitational pull because grumbling seems a reasonable response to disappointing events.

Generally, complaints show up as an uninvited guest. You return home from a frustrating day to discover that complaint has moved into your guest room, unpacked its luggage, started a load of laundry, and is rooting through your fridge.

Even as you work to evict complaint—as you move its bags to the curb and change the locks on your doors—it somehow crawls back into the guest room window. Complaint is highly resistant to eviction. 

Before you know it, over time, complaint becomes familiar, even right. With every struggle, we become like the Israelites murmuring in the desert (Exodus 16-17). Although God wants to prepare our faith for works of service in the world, we are hunkered down with complaint, watching TV together, and grumbling through every show and each conversation.

We can discourage complaint’s residency in our lives by inviting another guest to move in with us. That new guest is a prayerful attitude of trust and gratitude. When we choose to trust God and give thanks in the face of deep disappointment, complaint has less space to maneuver.

While attempting to unpack for an extended stay, complaint discovers that trust and gratitude have taken all the drawers in the guest room and already occupy the empty seat at the supper table. Faith and gratitude evict complaint because faith and a grumbling spirit are not able to live in the same house together. One inevitably pushes the other one out.

The ancient Israelites experienced a miraculous deliverance from harsh slavery in Egypt. The Lord parted the Red Sea so that they could walk across on dry ground and escape the Egyptian army’s pursuit. It’s easy to praise God when great things happen, and the Israelites had a whopper of a praise and worship service after that deliverance. Yet it’s quite another thing to praise and trust God when trouble happens – and when it keeps happening over and over again. 

Immediately after the praise and worship, Moses led the people into the desert. There was no water. God deliberately led the people into a difficult situation to test their faith. The Israelites quickly forgot the blessings and began grumbling about their situation. 

Their reflex response was to complain and ignore God’s direct commands. Maybe they did so because they spent four-hundred years of slavery in Egypt, and complaint had made such a home with them that it was second nature to murmur about their situation.

I keep a small c-clamp in my office to remind me that I am not in control, but God is. It isn’t my job to hold the universe together. The c-clamp also reminds me that I need to keep a clamp on my tongue when it comes to grumbling and complaining. Sins of the tongue are some of the most dominant forms of disobedience to God throughout Holy Scripture. 

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures can be tamed and have been tamed. But our tongues get out of control. They are restless and evil, and always spreading deadly poison. (James 3:7-8, CEV)

I wonder, can any of us go 24 hours without complaining about something or someone? 

Those who cannot answer “yes” must recognize that’s a real problem. If you cannot go 24 hours without drinking liquor, you are addicted to alcohol. And if you cannot go 24 hours without grumbling about something or someone, then you have lost control over your tongue and you are addicted to murmuring and have an adulterous relationship with complaint.

We must invite everlasting life to take up permanent residence. We need to evict the squatter of complaint. 

God is with us. Difficult circumstances, trouble, hard situations, problem people, and the seeming impossibility that things will not change doesn’t mean God moved out of your house. Instead, it’s evidence that the Lord wants us to exercise our faith.

Let God do it.

O God:
Give us all strength to live another day without grumbling, arguing, or complaining;
Let us not lose faith in other people and withdraw from them, or you, out of spite;
Keep our hearts tender in spite of the ingratitude, treachery, or meanness around us;
Help us to maintain purity of heart, and to live in faith and confidence, so that failure cannot dishearten us;
Open wide our spiritual eyes so that we may see the good in all things;
Inspire us with the spirit of joy and gladness;
and make us worthy and competent servants to suffering souls;

Impatience and Grumbling Are Poisonous (Numbers 21:4-9)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Moses and the Serpent on the Rod

The Israelites left Mount Hor and went on the road toward the Red Sea, in order to go around the country of Edom. But the people became impatient on the way and grumbled at God and Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert? There is no bread and no water, and we hate this terrible food!”

So the Lord sent them poisonous snakes; they bit the people, and many of the Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we grumbled at you and the Lord. Pray that the Lord will take away these snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.

The Lord said to Moses, “Make a bronze snake, and put it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, that person will live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. Then when a snake bit anyone, that person looked at the bronze snake and lived. (New Century Version)

Impatience and irritability. Grumbling and complaining. Show me a person with ants-in-their-pants and I will show you a person who bellyaches and squawks like an old chicken. The antsy person sticks their hand in the glove of criticism, loudly griping about missed expectations for all to hear. Little do they realize that venomous snakes are slithering toward them, attracted by the continual vibrations of complaint.

The ancient Israelites were miraculously delivered from Egyptian bondage by the mighty hand of God. But the celebration soon turned sour. Millions of people were out in the desert, discovering they had no food or water.

There is no account of the people using their spiritual connection with God to ask for help. Instead, their reflexive response was to grumble against God and God’s appointed leader Moses.

God had enough of their constant complaints. The Lord had repeatedly shown mercy and committed love to the people over-and-over again. Yet, they kept putting on their grumpy faces any time something didn’t go their way.

God kept showing patience toward the people, but the people kept demonstrating impatience toward God.

A mosaic of the serpent in the desert in All Saints Church, London, England, by Matthew Digby Wyatt (1820-1877)

If you stop and think about the pathology of our own impatience and complaining (which we all do – come on, admit it) you’ll likely discover that at the heart of it all is a picture in your mind of how you think circumstances ought to go for you to be happy. 

The Israelites expected a nice clean break from Egypt with a smooth transition into the Promised Land. They didn’t sign up for hard circumstances and a bunch of adversity and trouble getting there.

We aren’t so different. Believers go to faith gatherings expecting to be fed and encouraged. Students expect that school will be enjoyable and that they’ll get a good paying job after graduation. Employees expect to go to work and have healthy working relationships and a good boss. Parents expect their kids to listen and obey. You expect your friend or spouse to give you focused attention, the weather to be better, the drivers on the road to be respectful, the little plastic things on the end of your shoelaces to last for the life of your shoes….

And it doesn’t happen, or at least fails to go as planned. So, what happens when all those expectations aren’t realized? 

In a perfect world, we would always respond in a reasoned, wise, and healthy manner. But if we’re feeling like we’re in an emotional place of insecurity out in the desert, our response is more likely to be an impatient and complaint-filled litany about how things are all screwed up.

A great deal of disobedience, bad behavior, angry speech, and poor decision-making has its origins in impatience.

The minute you become impatient, take a long deep breath before you make your next mental decision. Check-in with yourself. Be mindful of what your real expectations are for the circumstance or person in the present moment of becoming upset. Make the decision, from the very beginning, not to complain or argue. Instead, choose to say what you want without grumbling.

It is truly possible to stand for holiness, live for righteousness, and uphold the words and ways of Jesus without being a jerk about it through impatient sighs, annoying facial expressions, and terse words of carping at another person who is made in God’s image.

Monitor yourself throughout the day today. Notice the times you become annoyed. Stop and take a minute to analyze what you are expecting to unfold throughout the day. Instead of grumbling, ask God to strengthen your faith through your upcoming events and encounters. 

God is there to help you, and not to pick on you. If you find yourself having made a poor decision and are suffering the consequences of it, the way of dealing with it isn’t to avoid it. One of the reasons God instructed Moses to make a snake is to clearly demonstrate to the people that they must go through their problems and not try and get around them.

Fortunately, in Christianity, Jesus becomes our bronze snake of deliverance:

In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. (John 3:14-15, MSG)

Holy God, your patience is incredible in the face of human impatience. Yet, your boundaries are firm, and you will not put up with our petulant ways forever. Help me to live into the model of your Son, the Lord Jesus, who with you and the Holy Spirit are attentive to come alongside me to your own glory and honor. Amen.

Psalm 95 – Worship and Whining

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Psalm 95 verse 4, by Cecelia Nedlin

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
    let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
    and extol him with music and song.

For the Lord is the great God,
    the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
    and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us bow down in worship,
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for he is our God
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the flock under his care.

Today, if only you would hear his voice,
“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
    as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested me;
    they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
For forty years I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” (New International Version)

Revelation and Response

Praise and thanksgiving. Complaining and grumbling. These two sets of words are antithetical to each other. Yet, out of the same mouth can come both worship and whining. Maybe the psalmist was trying to teach us a thing or two by inviting us to sing and bow to the Lord, as well as hear God’s voice.

Worship and listening are meant to go hand in hand. Revelation and response are to be the spiritual rhythm of the believer. True worship is a divine conversation between us and God. The Lord speaks. We listen and answer. Back and forth we go together. God and God’s people are in dialogue.

When the worship rhythm is off, then our response will be off. And that is what happened to the ancient Israelites. They were miraculously delivered from their cruel bondage in Egypt. You can imagine the kind of praise and worship service the people had in the desert! After four-hundred years of slavery, freedom!

The Rhythm is Off

Before you know it, the thanksgiving turned sour into grumbling. At the first instance of adversity, when there was no water to drink, it was as if the people had some sort of collective dementia set in. Suddenly, hardness of heart. Talk about fickle! One minute hands are raised in praise, the next minute, those same hands clench into fists shaking at God.

The people forgot that this was an ongoing dialogue – not a one and done conversation of revelation and response. God acted by delivering the people. The people responded with praise and thanksgiving. And they didn’t want it to stop. Yet, all of life is a rhythm. What goes up, comes down. Good times eventually fade into tough times. The real muster of any person or group is the response when the hardship comes.

God knew exactly what he was doing. The Lord purposely brought the Israelites out into the desert to face a difficult circumstance. God was teaching them to trust. The Lord wanted a response of faith and prayer to the adverse situation. But the people weren’t looking for a dialogue. They were looking for water. And when they didn’t have it, their hearts hardened through murmuring, bellyaching, and dissatisfaction.

However, God was still in the conversation. The generation who saw the incredible deliverance from bondage would die in the desert, never setting eyes on the Promised Land. And it all began because of grumbling.

Complaining is Unhealthy

We need to take complaining seriously. Why? Because it rots the soul, like Mr. Grinch who incessantly complained every year about Christmas. Grumbling makes one into a Grinch-like creature, like the song says:

You’re as cuddly as a cactus
You’re as charming as an eel…

You got termites in your smile
You have all the tender sweetness
Of a seasick crocodile…

Your heart’s an empty hole
You got garlic in your soul.

It was only when the Grinch forsook his isolation of complaining and began connecting in conversation with the folks in Whoville, that he had his rhythm restored.

The Need for Encouragement

When our rhythm is off kilter, what will it take to get it back? The author of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews helps us here. After quoting our psalm lesson for today, the writer responded to the biblical revelation by saying:

Be careful, brothers and sisters, that none of you ever develop a wicked, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. Encourage each other every day while you have the opportunity. If you do this, none of you will be deceived by sin and become stubborn. After all, we will remain Christ’s partners only if we continue to hold on to our original confidence until the end. Scripture says, “If you hear God speak today, don’t be stubborn. Don’t be stubborn like those who rebelled.”

Hebrews 3:12-15, God’s Word Translation

Revelation and response are the rhythmic dynamism of the Christian community. Lone Ranger Christians are an oxymoron, as well as moronic. We are hard-wired by God for community. All of us need to encourage one another – every day. Without the communal connections of encouraging conversations, it will be difficult to sustain a divine dialogue of God speaking, with people listening and responding in obedient faith.

Celebration is wonderful. We need times and experiences of celebrating deliverance from bondage. Eventually, when Christ returns, there will be unending worship in the form of jubilation. That time is not yet here. This side of heaven, we must learn to engage God in ways which address our hardships and difficulties. Otherwise, our hearts will become stubborn and hard.

Let your heart become open enough to receive encouragement. And let it also be brave enough to encourage others.

Lord Jesus Christ, by your patience in suffering you caused earthly pain to be holy. And you gave us the example of obedience to your Father’s will. Be near me in my time of weakness and pain. Sustain me by your grace so that my strength and courage may not fail. Heal me according to you will. Help me always believe that what happens to me here is of little account if you hold me in eternal life, my Lord and my God. Amen.

Philippians 2:14-18, 3:1-4 – Rejoicing versus Complaining

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So, you too should be glad and rejoice with me…. 

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence. (NIV) 

Here is a simple observation: Complaining and rejoicing cannot come out of the same mouth at the same time. The two of them mix about as well as toasters and bathtubs. Everything is to be done without grumbling or arguing. Sheer willpower is insufficient for the task. No, instead, you and I need to replace words of complaint with words of joy. Rejoicing is the antidote to murmuring. The world already has more than enough curmudgeons who crank on about everything from politics and religion to the weather and social media. Grumblers seem to always find the negative in just about everything. 

Any fool can complain. It is easy. Joy, however, takes some work. The sage person practices gratitude and joy so that it becomes the default response to most situations. We need more folks like this in the world. For all the talk we hear about how important it is to be positive, it is negativity that sells, wins elections, and moves people. The irony of it all is that a large chunk of people continually grumbles, complains, and argues about all the negativity in the world. *Sigh* 

Complaining and arguing are nasty practices because they breed disunity and division within groups and families. Murmuring only warps the ones who do it and infects others with spiritual disease. Grumbling is always the first building block of a crooked and depraved generation. Conversely, being blameless and pure is winsomely attractive and unites folks together as a cohesive force for the world. Joy inoculates people from divisive pathogens. A people who rejoice together produce generations of individuals who impact their culture with delight and satisfaction. 

Not even suffering and hard circumstances can curtail the comfort and cheer of the joyful. Rejoicing is a way of life – a path which no one and nothing can take away from us. Unwanted situations can be imposed on us, yet a person’s joy cannot be dislodged. Eleanor Porter’s 1913 storybook character, Pollyanna, learned to take such a look upon life from her parents. Even after losing them and being orphaned, she honored their memory by saying, “… there is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it.” Pollyanna went on to teach an entire community about her way of life: 

“What people need is encouragement. Their natural resisting powers should be strengthened, not weakened…. Instead of always harping on a person’s faults, tell them of their virtues. Try to pull them out of their rut of bad habits. Hold up to them their better self, the real self that can dare and do and win out! … The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town…. People radiate what is in their minds and in their hearts. If a person feels kindly and obliging, their neighbors will feel that way, too. But if a person scolds and scowls and criticizes—their neighbors will return scowl for scowl and add interest! … When you look for the bad, expecting it, you will get it. When you know you will find the good—you will get that…” 

I wonder what our world would look like if we all took such an approach of finding joy in our lives. We are meant to guard ourselves from those who boast and brag, who belligerently bully others with their bellicose blustering and bellyaching.  

We are designed by our Creator for better things. Joy is more than the spice of life; it is life itself. Moving mindfully and without rush through our days, setting aside times for contemplation and rest, offering gratitude to God and encouragement to others, and exploring our own heart’s desire are all ways we can tap into the large hidden reservoir of joy within each of us. 

Complaining is cheap and easy. Joy is rich, full, satisfying, and takes practice to master. Rejoice in the Lord, take joy in the presence of the Spirit, and exult in Christ our Savior. In doing so, we shoo the devil away and create a better society. 

God is good all the time. And all the time God is good. 

O Lord, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You mark out my journeys and my resting place and are acquainted with all my ways. Lord of creation, whose glory is around and within us: Open our eyes to your wonders so that we may serve you with reverence and know your peace and joy in our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.