Got the Grumbles?

                  “I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel. So tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and every morning you will eat all the bread you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” –Exodus 16:12

            Grumbling is definitely one of the most natural human tendencies of this day in age. Speaking for myself, I can easily say that I’ve master grumbling as a form of art. Even on the best days of the week, I can probably fine something to complain about in almost every situation. I whine when I wake up to my alarm clock buzzing madly. I complain when traffic is moving at snail-speed. I lose my patience when my computer decides to take the day off, or when my cell phone refuses to pick up a signal.

No matter what new gadget I buy that is supposed to make life quicker, easier, and worry-free, I still seem to find something to gripe about no matter what I’m doing. It seems to me like the more of this modern technology I posses, the shorter my patience becomes. Funny, isn’t it? My pastor has recently been focusing his sermons on “worrying,” and has recommended that the congregation read Exodus 16. As I opened my Bible and read the story, I was completely blown away by its relation to my own life.

The passage begins when Moses and Aaron are leading the Israelites out of Egypt and across the desert to the Promise Land. The Israelites found an excuse to grumble about almost anything during their forty-year long journey through the desert. They even went as far as to say, “I wish we would have died back in Egypt. At least there we could eat whatever we wanted and weren’t being dragged through the desert!” (Exodus 16:3) What they had forgotten to consider was that their complaints weren’t insulting Moses and Aaron. They were insulting God—the very God who had freed them from slavery in Egypt and promised them a land with everything they need. The Israelites had gotten so caught in their present sufferings, that they’d taken for granted all that God had done and was still doing for them.

Sound familiar? We go through life every day, disarmed and distraught over the smallest mishaps and inconveniences. Eventually, we can entirely forget the ultimate sacrifice God made to free us from the captivity of our sin. The constant flood of complaints that spill out of our mouths can block out the immeasurable blessings God adorns us with daily.

We can relate to the Israelites in a second way. They had ignored the fact that, despite their persistent whining, God continued to walk with them side-by-side every step of their journey. He listened to every ungrateful word that escaped from their mouths, and He still provided. Meat and bread poured down from the sky like torrents of rain and filled the Israelites camp. As His people remained ungrateful, the Lord remained faithful.

This is the reality for all of God’s people. When we walk through life carelessly, blindly, griping about the most insignificant matters, God still generously abounds His blessings upon us. Isn’t it time we begin to take notice? Chew on this for a while: If we can so easily tell the whole world what we are doing through statuses, tweets, and text messages, shouldn’t we spend at least a few minutes a day telling God what’s going on in our lives and thanking Him for all of His blessings? It’s about time to stop complaining and start rejoicing!