Grumbling

I continue to read about Moses' leadership in bringing God's people out of Egypt to the Promise Land.  It is almost not understandable how often the people of Israel grumbled, although I am sure if we were in the desert for all that time we would find some things to grumble about.  After all the miraculous things God continued to do, and then the punishments that God placed on his people who grumbled or rebelled, there were still those who thought they needed to vocalize their whining and complaints. 

I know we wouldn't do that, right?  We would never complain about not enough food or water.  Of course we have unlimited amounts of water piped into our homes and so much food that we often waste it.  We would never complain about leadership in the church (or a teacher at school or a government leader).  We would never grumble about how tough our lives are or at what we perceived God was doing.  We would never complain about circumstances or events or irritating people or the heat or the cold or the rain or the loud neighbors...Shall I go on?  For some reason we feel we have the right to grumble and complain about everything that happens contrary to our liking. 

Maybe, just maybe, we need to get a grip on ourselves and learn about contentment.  Paul certainly did.  Paul tells the church in Philippi that he has learned to be content whatever his circumstances.  There is a secret to that kind of life.  The secret is this: "I can do all things through him who gives me strength" (Phil 4:13).  Evidently Paul learned that this was not just a memory verse but the truth behind contentment.  This means when I am hot, God can hep me handle the heat or God can make it cooler.  All things.  That means when we are hungry God can provide food or help us handle the hunger.  All things.  God can heal us or God can walk with us through tough physical times.  All things.  We just tend to demand that God do things our way, or we will teach God a lesson and be miserable.  Not contented. Angry.  Demanding.  Upset. 

That will teach God a lesson.