Refraining From Complaining

Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah.

-Deuteronomy 6:16



When the Bible here speaks of testing God, the idea is to not tempt God – do not put Him to the test. Take Him at His Word, do what He says, and do not try His patience. This verse makes reference to an event described in Exodus 17 in which the people grumbled at Moses over not having enough water. The problem was that rather than pray and ask the Lord to provide for that need, they instead began to murmur and complain about what a terrible leader Moses was and how awful it was that the Lord was letting them all die of thirst. When I read this I am amazed at how quickly the people forgot all that God had done for them up until that point. God providing water for them to drink was such a little thing – it was nothing for God to do that. How could they have forgotten that some time earlier God had parted the sea for them to walk across on dry land? This is the direct result of walking by sight rather than by faith, and when we walk by sight we are quickly going to be discouraged. Discouragement leads to frustration, which leads to bitter complaining. To me, this is like my best friend providing me with an amazing banquet – all I can eat. I mean its more food, more delicacies, and more of a feast than I have ever seen; and I just have a fit because there’s no steak sauce. "Oh sure, this is a great meal, and this is the biggest and tastiest looking steak I’ve ever seen, but it’s all ruined because I don’t have any Heinz 57! I can’t eat now. It’s all your fault!” Would not such a response be childish, ungrateful, and unchristian? Indeed it would.

The walk of spiritual victory begins when we are thankful for what God has given us and for what He had done regardless of where we are. When we seek to bring our will in line with God’s will, we can then begin to walk in spiritual victory.