The Truth About Your Complaining

The Truth About Your Complaining

Posted on by Michele Morin

Often, it’s the stories we’ve read one hundred times that surprise us when they jump off the page because of a minor plot point, missed on earlier readings. I’m reading in Exodus again and, once again, we’re slogging through the wilderness. God has provided miraculous food, and Israel is singing the blues about missing the good life in Egypt. (Have they forgotten already that they were enslaved there?)

Moses assures them that God will continue to provide, that they can trust God for daily provision, for bread in the morning, and meat in the evening. But his reassurance comes with a warning:

…the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.”
(Exodus 16:8)

The truth about Israel’s complaining is also the truth about my complaining. (And yours.)

Daily, we ingest the mystery of what God provides. Like Israelites harvesting their morning manna, we turn the key on a working vehicle, open the door of a full refrigerator or pantry, put on a warm coat or a cool shirt, and we hardly give it a thought—until something goes sideways.

Then, with biblical precision, we quote God’s people, our spiritual forefathers:

LORD, have you brought us out into this wilderness to kill us?”

Maybe not in these exact words, and maybe we’re quiet about it, but, nonetheless, our grumbling falls on the ears of God.

Manna didn’t look or taste like what God’s people expected, but it was still food. It was God’s provision.

Sometimes grace doesn’t look or taste like grace. Often, God acts in ways that are unexpected—even incomprehensible! Like Israel, we are people in training as we learn to trust God.

What are you thanking God for today that doesn’t look quite like you expected?
Is this an opportunity to glorify God by trusting him instead of complaining?

Holding You in the Light,

Daily, we ingest the mystery of what God provides.

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Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four married sons and a growing fleet of adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

25 thoughts on “The Truth About Your Complaining”

  2. We are thanking Him today for so many benefits of modern civilization as we’ve had several of them break down this week: the whole house plumbing, then the air conditioner, and finally the refrigerator, all in one week! We surely appreciate them so much more when they are suddenly gone. And we thank Him for the blessing of repairs too!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. My husband was grumbling as he started the generator, for the third time this week, on Thursday when our electricity went out again. I reminded him how grateful I was that we had the generator as a backup source of power. We are truly blessed.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Lately, God has made me more aware of some of my repetive thoughts that need changing! I’ve been trying to consciously reframe them. Like weeds, they seem to keep popping up.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. I ended the spring grumbling about interruptions – I am trying to turn a changed perspective into muscle memory – and then when I started working on that, another grumbling idea popped up – and I’m tackling that now, too. I am working on replacing those grumblings with praise and thanksgiving! I want to stay out of curmudgeon territory!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. That’s true we are so abundantly blessed with material provisions, but I can get whiny all too quickly when the power goes out or the store is out of my favorite brand of coffee. May I be more thankful for hat I have and less discontent when something goes wrong.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. oooh, if this doesn’t bring me up short!! It’s easy to complain until I realize that I’m complaining about what God has provided or allowed in my life. If I stop to remember that everything God does is for my good and for his glory, there’s really nothing to complain about.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Whenever I teach from the beginning of the Old Testament and read about the Israelites complaining against God, I am cut through the heart that I am just like them!

      Like

  8. “Often, God acts in ways that are unexpected—even incomprehensible!” Oh so true! May I come to always embrace His ways for they are so much better than mine!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. I allowed myself to wander into grumble territory Sunday afternoon, and shortly after felt guilty for doing so. I know better! I’ve asked God for forgiveness and started over fresh, so thankful that he removes our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. He knows what we’re made of, remembering that we’re dust (Psalm 103:12, 14).

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks for coming to this space with such a high degree of vulnerability, Nancy. We all stumble in many ways, and the tendency to grumble seems like it might be more pronounced on a busy Sunday….

      Like

  10. To be perfectly honest, when I am around someone who complains all the time I tend to ignore their complaints. My brain puts them in the Boy Who Cried Wolf category and my empathy meter drops to zero. I know that I need to practice discernment in this area and I pray that God will help me know the difference between attention seeking and actual need.

    Joining you from Grace and Truth.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. This is a great reminder to be thankful in ALL things. Our flesh complains but our Spirit must override. God, I am thankful for You and for all things today. I pray that I can use this blog as a reminder every day to stop complaining and replace it with praise.

    Liked by 1 person

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