A cure for whining

TODAY'S BIBLE READING:

Numbers 10:1-11:23
Mark 14:1-21
Psalm 51:1-19
Proverbs 10:31-32

BIBLE VERSE(S) FOR TODAY:

Numbers 11:10 "Moses heard all the families standing in the doorways of their tents whining, and the LORD became extremely angry. Moses was also very aggravated."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Have you ever wondered if God is like some people you know who have a "button" and that when it gets pushed, they get upset?

Well, we learn of that "button" in the book of Numbers. We see precisely what sends God over the edge. In fact, our verse for today is just one of the many times that we see this striking correlation: The Israelites whined and God got angry.

I don't know about you but I can't stand it when someone is whining. Even the very word is enough to make me want to walk away. (But, I have done it plenty of times. Ugh!) 

In our text, we read that God hates whining, too! He absolutely can't stand whining! 

Why?

It would seem that the big reason God doesn't like whining is because it is rooted in discontentment. In fact, that discontentment is directed at God's plan for our lives.

Friend, God is the sovereign ruler over Creation (Ephesians 1:11). A seemingly insignificant sparrow can't even fall to it's death without God giving it permission to do so (Matthew 10:29). 

So, if God is that much of a micromanager, then there is nothing that can happen to you that God hasn't either actively sent your way or passively allowed to come your way. Absolutely everything that you or I experience has to come from his hands.

So, when you and I whine about our circumstances, we're actually showing our frustration and discontentment with God's plan for us. While we may think that our frustration is justified because of a car that won't start or a loved one who is in the hospital, what we're really saying is that we could run the universe a whole lot better than God can.

So, what is the answer to discontentment? Faith!

If we want to be OK with whatever happens to us (and not resort to whining), then we have got to learn to trust Him and ask God to give us faith even when life doesn't make sense. 

As we trust His heart, knowing that He loves us dearly and is working out His plan that is for His glory and our good (Romans 8:28), then we can be OK with what happens in life. We won't whine because we know that our troubles have to come through God's loving hands before they get to us. And in that, we can find comfort.