I have a bad habit of complaining. Do you? From an outdoor temperature that makes my bones quiver to a car in traffic that won’t go the speed limit--I hate to be inconvenienced, and I don't like when things don't suit my tastes. And if I don't catch myself in time,
Wahhhhh.
I whine. Or mope. Or refuse to make the best out of a situation that is all-too-often not really that bad anyway. Truth be told, even if the pendulum swung in the opposite direction, it's likely I'd complain about that, too. I don't want to be cold...but I don't really want to be too hot either. I long for the lazy days of laying around with nothing to do...but not if I get too bored.
Sometimes we complain just because we want to complain. It can be so satisfying to our spoiled natures to gripe when the slightest hair of life is out of place, just because we can.
If only the universe could figure out how to please us all the time, why, then we wouldn't have a need to complain!
The desert is no stranger to whining either. While we don't have any evidence of complaints during Moses' first 40-year stint in the desert (yes, there was more than one!), we have an abundance of examples of it when he was leading the Israelites to the Promised Land. You know the story--they were thrilled to be led away from Pharaoh's reign in Egypt, only to find that God had allowed Moses to lead them into the middle of nowhere. No food, no shelter, nothing. How was this better? As they saw it, they had traded one set of problems for another! What were they even going to eat? They were going to starve out there!
But the Lord God of Provision already had those blueprints ready and rolled out. He rained bread from the sky every day. Some even referred to it as "angel bread." Manna. It was only enough for the day, and hoarding it would do them no good because God would allow it spoil. But even "angel bread" got boring. "We miss the food we had in Egypt!" they'd yell. It didn't matter that in the middle of nowhere, somehow their bellies were full. It didn't matter that He'd parted a sea to spare their lives. It didn't matter that He provided fire every evening so they could travel when it was dark.
The same old boring bread, God? Every day? That's it?! That's the best You've got?!
They didn't just want their needs to be met. No! They wanted variety! Flavor and texture! We're bored, God! Give us something else! This isn't good enough!
Yikes.
I love how Chuck Swindoll refers to these incessant whiners in his study on Moses--he calls them "grumbles." It's a perfect name, isn't it? Oh, what a blemish we are to the cause of Christ when we can be but reduced merely to the noise we make. Grumble.
God meets us in the desert to show us how to survive by depending on Him. And when He only gives us enough for the moment and no cushion to spare, it's not to frustrate us or to hurt us. It's to show us how to trust in Him. Of course, He could have provided a huge pile of goods that would have lasted them their entire trek in the wilderness. But when He showed up day
after day
after day
after day
and never failed to rain His promises, it not only showed them that He was trustworthy and good, it showed them that He was paying attention.
God pays attention to you. To every detail of every need you have. You'll never understand that in a time of plenty. You'll only really start to absorb that in the middle of nowhere when you feel lost and alone and forgotten, and He still manages to deliver everything right on time. Not your timing, mind you. His timing. Perfect timing.
It's a precious and valuable lesson, and we'll never be able to hear it if we're too busy making noise. If we're too busy grumbling.
Whatever the flavor, God's provisions are always sweet, but nothing is so sweet as to trust in Him. So, dig in. Savor His delicious faithfulness. Learn to give in to His lead and lean on His promises.
Come. Taste and see that the Lord is good.
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