Pulpit Reflections: Quit complaining
Exodus 17:1-7 seems like a simple chapter in the migration story of the people of Israel, as the Lord, through Moses, brought them out of slavery and exile from the land of Egypt. It can be read as a historical report or it can be studied to find the deeper meaning that God wanted to teach them and us.
The Israelites wandering in the desert were a people who often complained.
They had camped at a place where there was no water to drink. They were thirsty and had obvious reason to complain. They also had a very short memory! In the previous chapter of Exodus, they were fed bread from heaven each day and quails for meat. They just came to expect that God would answer their every need and they became rather demanding in their complaining. Verse 2 tells us, They complained to Moses and said, “Give us water to drink. Moses answered, “Why are you complaining? Why are you putting the Lord to the test?”
Those are very good questions. Why do we complain? This text can be a mirror for our behaviors as well. We complain about the weather, and we complain about politicians and the economy. We whine about schools and grocery or gas prices.
We even complain about things at church -- everything from the choice of hymns to the low attendance to the lack of respect by children. We are very much like the people of Israel in this story who complained to Moses. This place in the wilderness is remembered, not as a place where God provided, but where the people complained. Verse 7 confirms: “Moses named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained and put the Lord to the test when they asked, “Is the Lord with us or not?”
When you find yourself in an attitude of complaining, ask a different question. When was the last time I felt gratitude for something being right in my world? Just like the Israelites, we forget God’s provisions as soon as we get them.
We move on with our life just as they moved on in their travels. God had fed them Manna from heaven and yet they forgot his blessings when they got thirsty.
They just forgot the promise that God had made to Moses that He would always be with them. He led them by a pillar of fire in the night and by smoke in the day. He provided food when there seemed to be none. He provided a capable leader who through the hand of God had parted the Red Sea and drowned their enemies. God was right there with them and they complained and wanted even more!
The good news is that God doesn’t punish us for complaining. God didn’t bring disaster upon the people for failing to trust in God’s providence and care. God didn’t enter into an argument with them, either. God waited. God waited until someone was ready to listen. God waited until Moses asked for guidance.
Then God spoke. Then God provided. Then God’s presence was revealed.
God cannot be found in our complaining, though God is there listening. God cannot speak when we are whining, though God is ready to guide us. God cannot meet our needs until we open our eyes and ears and hearts to allow God’s grace to be seen and heard and received.
Sometimes we are too noisy with our complaints to hear God’s ‘still small voice’ speaking to us and offering us relief from our distress. Sometimes we are so intensely concerned about our circumstances that we don’t recognize God’s presence in our midst. And sometimes we are whining about things we have the power and ability to change!
When Moses finally asked God for direction, God reminded him that he had the necessary tools at hand.
Verses 5 and 6 read: The Lord said to Moses, “Take some of the leaders of Israel with you and go on ahead of the people. Take along the stick with which you struck the Nile. I will stand before you on a rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”
Moses had the power and the blessing of God. Moses had the stick which had saved them in the past. Moses just forgot that he had answers and help.
Instead he complained to God. “Help me Lord, the people are about to stone me!”
It should have been obvious to Moses that God would provide an answer. It should have been obvious that the Lord was not going to let his people die of thirst in the dessert.
But sometimes we can’t see the obvious because we are doing the talking and not listening. Our complaining makes us unaware of God’s voice speaking to us.
God says to you and me in the midst of our complaining, “look at the tools you have and use them”.
Quit looking at the circumstances as reasons to complain. Look at the tools God has provided to meet your needs.
How often do we wait until we reach a crisis point before we ask for prayer or begin praying for ourselves? Paul encourages us in 1 Thes. 5:17 “ that we should “pray without ceasing” and yet we become preoccupied with other matters and don’t take that time to pray. The answers that we seek come from within.
Life is full of distractions that keep us from spending time with the Divine. If we spent as much time praying and listening for God to speak as we do complaining, I think the world would be a more peaceful place.
Let’s give it a try!