How can I help but grumble when I'm hurting in the wilderness?

July 3, 2014: How can I help but grumble when I'm hurting in the wilderness? Please "Share" this new Precious Prodigal post: http://bit.ly/1rof0XC

Num 13:2 “And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron”

Numbers 12 tells the story of the spies who went to check out the land that God had promised the Israelites. Ten of them came back with an “evil” report about the people who lived there, saying, “We were grasshoppers” compared to them. (Num 12:33) When the Israelites heard the report, they were terrified and began to grumble.

They started out by grumbling about Moses and Aaron, and grumbling fed their fear until they said they wished they had died in Egypt or in the wilderness. They even planned to elect a captain to take them back to Egypt. (Num 13:4) When Joshua and Caleb tried to reassure them, the Israelites wanted to stone them.

Those of us who love a prodigal are no strangers to the wilderness. Neither are we unfamiliar with the kind of fear that takes away our ability to reason, to hope or to trust. How can we help but grumble sometimes about the people or the circumstances that have caused that fear?

Like many things about our wilderness journey, sometimes we can’t. But we don’t need to set up camp and stay there. If we’re not careful, our pain and fear will turn us into the kind of people who seem to wallow in their misery and grumble continuously about how hard our lives are.

Have you ever asked people how they’re doing and have them answer (usually with downcast eyes and a long sigh), “Ok, I guess…under the circumstances?” When that happens, I’m sometimes tempted to say, “Under the circumstances? What in the world are you doing under there?” You see, God hasn’t called us to be “under the circumstances.” He has called us to be above our circumstances…overcomers through the power only He can give.

I’m not saying we should lie to ourselves and everyone else or deny that we’re going through a tough time. What I am saying is that the God of the good times doesn’t stop being God in the bad times. If you and I have trusted God about where we’re going to spend eternity, can we not trust Him with what’s happening in our lives today?

The Israelites thought they were grumbling about Moses and Aaron, but God said they were grumbling against Him. (Num 13:27) That plan God has for my life? You know…the Jeremiah 29:11 one…”plans to prosper me and not to harm me, to give me hope and a future?” Part of that plan is taking me through this wilderness. I don’t understand it, but God doesn’t expect me to understand. He expects me to trust Him, and He expects me to make it a fertile place.

My favorite Winnie the Pooh story shows Eeyore standing there with a rain cloud over his head. Piglet sees it and says, “Eeyore…if it’s going to rain on you anyway, would you mind going around back and standing next to my garden?” I can’t choose whether it’s going to rain sorrow or fear or pain in my life today. But if it does, I can choose to stand next to a garden and let my pain make it a place of beauty. I can’t do that by grumbling so I need to lay it aside.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, lay aside the grumbling? Can you ask God to help you make your wilderness a fertile place?

Reviews

[Jenny M]

Just read this and I love it! It's easy to read and so positive. I loved the "What on earth are you doing under there?" comment about being under the circumstances. A great read!