Today’s passage is Numbers 11:26-35. When Joshua hears that two elders in the camp are prophesying, he wants to stop them but Moses wishes everyone could receive the Spirit. The Lord blows in tons of quail but before they can be eaten, all the people who complained are killed by plague. After their burial the camp moves.
Buried in Complaints
I like to think that I don’t complain, but it’s not true. Although it is true that I give thanks a lot, I still complain too. As I hear the complaints come from my mouth, I feel distressed because I don’t want to be that complaining person any more.
It’s hard not to complain because I’m surrounded by complainers. It seems to be the default setting for most of us. Complaining is so pervasive that often I don’t even notice it until the complaint is out of my mouth.
Look at the basic list: It’s raining. It’s cold. It’s hot. That food is not delicious. I wish I could buy that computer. I’m not pretty. I’m too fat. I need to exercise. I have high cholesterol. My clothes are out of fashion. My car is old. My house is too small. It’s so far to go to church. I’m too tired. I’m too sick. Coffee makes me grumpy. I can’t get up early. I need more sleep. Those kids are rude. My spouse doesn’t respect me or understand me. I’m poor. It’s your fault. Etc. etc.
In today’s passage, the complainers get what they wanted, literally tons of it. They had to walk a whole day to get past all the tasty quail God brought like a gigantic express delivery. They were nearly buried in their fulfilled desire, and then God killed them so that they really were buried. And then the camp moved beyond them and their graveyard.
I don’t want to die complaining. I want to die praising God. My fear is that I will be grumbling on my deathbed because I couldn’t get past my complaining. I believe I will go to heaven when I die, but I pray I can go with praise and thanks on my lips, not complaints of things that don’t matter a bit, like the weather or the size of my house.
The world of complaining that I live in affects me, training me to join in the chorus of grumbling. But the purpose of life is not a happiness free of complaint, it’s a holy union with God and everlasting thanks for his undying, unchanging, everlasting love.
How do I switch from complaint to gratitude? No easy answer.
What helps me is seeing my life in the Bible story. What also helps are comments from great Christian teachers like C.S. Lewis, who says that we view life either as a hotel or a training camp.
If we see life as a hotel, we’ll complain forever because the service is so bad. If we see it as a training camp, as a time in the wilderness, then it’s not so bad because a lot of nice things happen in between the hardship and suffering.
Training camp comes to an end, just like the time in the wilderness comes to an end. Complaint ends in death, but gratitude for training prepares us for life in God’s love. I give thanks that I’m in stop-complaining training.
Application: give thanks not complaints for the distances I have to travel to do what I need to do this day.
Lord, great is your mercy, and pitiful is my gratitude. Send your spirit of praise and thanksgiving that I may prophesy like Eldad and Medad.
