For months now, I have been immersed in the journey of Moses and Aaron out of Egypt. At every turn, there has been some little something about Moses, the Israelites, or leaving Egypt.

It started when a few friends and I were reading a book called “Sons of Encouragement” by Francine Rivers. The book really is beautiful. The first story is written from Aarons perspective, so as I was reading this fictional tale, I started walking through scripture to see how it compared.

One thing I have always had trouble understanding, is the Israelites and their tendency to complain. Yet, the more I think about it, we’re all just as rotten.

As they were being rescued from their life of slavery, and wandering through the wilderness, they were complaining. At every turn. The negativity spread quickly like a cancer, feeding on the people and driving them to lose sight of the mighty miracles and majesty right in front of them.

They walked through the Red Sea, on dry ground. Walls of ocean surrounding them. Imagine it! Walls of water teeming with sea life, sand below their feet packed with the evidence that their trek through was highly unusual.

It took them only three days to forget. THREE DAYS.

God rained manna from Heaven down on them, fresh and new each morning. They got sick of it and cried “meat!” so He flooded them with quail. It wasn’t long before they were sick of that too. They wanted the fish and the melons of Egypt, and they weren’t shy with their complaints.

The evidence of a mighty God hovered over them as a cloud by day, and a fire at night. The mountain boomed, alive with holy thunder, and the Israelites were debauching themselves around a golden calf.

As I read through the fictional account of the priest, I couldn’t help but think “gosh those people would have gotten on my last nerve!” The fussing and complaining. The sheer idiocy, and blindness, in their elevation of nonsense above their deliverer.

As I read about them wandering in the desert, finally free of Pharaoh and slavery, I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded as they cast a mighty God aside for a statue. It got even worse as they began crying because they didn’t have cucumbers.

It’s really all so silly.

And yet, don’t we do that today?

We spoiled westerners are one in the same. Starbucks doesn’t have the ingredients for our favorite latte, so we get on social media and complain. Amazon is taking three days instead of two, and we start pacing around the mailbox. We trade time with a real and present God, for notifications on our phones and endless scrolling.

Sure, we aren’t dancing naked around golden calves, but we debauch ourselves with more sophisticated and technological means.

How do we keep from complaining and forgetting all God has done when things aren’t necessarily going our way? How do we avoid trading our deliverer for deliverance, or our growth for comfort?

I’m glad you asked.

And this is where I’ve been stuck writing this for months. I had no idea how to wrap it up, and do it in an encouraging way. I had no clue how to package up nicely, what I really felt our complaining boiled down to: Selfishness and self-centeredness.

I’ve meditated on how annoyed I’ve been with the complaining all around me. The negativity that seems to permeate ever corner of society and culture.

I’ve taken note of the people in my life that are chronic complainers, and felt the complaining spirit as it took root in my own soul. In the past I wouldn’t have called myself a complainer, but as I focused my attention on writing this, the grumbling around me and within me became more magnified.

AND IT IS GROSS.

What I’ve been considering is the why of our pointless protests, and the how of dismantling a critical spirit.

I think we can start with asking ourselves what are the things we complain about the most?

Sit with that a moment.

Now, think about those Israelites again. Every time they took their eyes off of the goodness of God, all they could do was focus on themselves and what they “lacked”.

God delivered them. He set them free from a life of slavery, but they wanted the comfort of their routine and what they’d known. Their clothes and shoes never wore out, but they wanted the provisions of the promised land now.

It is the same with us.

So what do you do when we feel dissatisfaction creeping up within you? Do you give in to complaining? Or do you find something, anything, to be thankful for?

We are more prone to complaint when we take our eyes off of our mighty God. When we turn our gaze inward, all we see is what we lack. However, if we’d keep our gaze on our ABBA, we’d see everything He is. There is no room for lack, when He is magnified.

When you feel a complaining spirit getting a grip on your heart, what can you do?

I would suggest to you that if you can change your situation, do something about it.

What is that thing you complain about the most? Is it something you can change? If so, take action today. It may take time to create lasting change, but start now.

If you can’t change the thing, change your perspective. This may require you to throw down, and crush your idols.

What are some of our most popular idols? Comfort, security, safety, dreams, goals, and feelings.

Jesus is Lord. That means He is Lord over your ambitions, your goals, your ideas and opinions, and especially your feelings. All of these things you must submit to His lordship.

Is your God bigger that your wilderness? Is He sovereign over your life and all circumstances? Is He the author, perfecter, and finisher of your faith?

If it took the Israelites only three days to forget the parting of the Red Sea, how much more diligent do we need to be in this age of short attention spans and instant gratification? How quickly can you remind yourself of His faithfulness, and His deliverance?

Lift your eyes and remember, because you need Heavens perspective.

If none of that sways you to stop your complaining and fix your focus, simply consider that your complaints are really just against God Himself. Is that where you really want to land?

“Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.””
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭16:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

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