Complaint Heard

Complaint Heard

Exodus 16: ⁶ Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. ⁷ And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He hears your complaints against the Lord. But what are we, that you complain against us?” ⁸ Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.”

 

⁹ Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” ¹⁰ Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

 

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Weeks into the journey to the promised land, the children of Israel began to complain about Moses and Aaron. Moses replied to them by sending Aaron to be the spokesperson. The message was, “Come near before the LORD, for HE has heard your complaints.”

 

My Observations:

• GOD’s hearing of the complaints was not a good thing.
• Moses was given authority by GOD to send Aaron out to speak on his behalf.
• Moses clarified that any complaint against him and Aaron was a complaint against GOD.

 

A complaint is different than a request. It signifies disappointment or a breach of a promise. The children of Israel complained about how they thought things should be going. We do the same with GOD when we complain about HIS timing, or amounts or HIS plan.

 

Every complaint against Moses and Aaron was heard by GOD. And, in usual fashion, HE gracefully allowed the complaints. The children of Israel may have thought they were getting their way when they heard they would get bread and meat. Unfortunately, they were not aligning to GOD’s heart. GOD seems to despise complaints against HIS servants and against HIM.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the complaints from the children of Israel?
• Have you ever thought that GOD is not doing things the way it “should” be done?
• What complaint have you said to GOD that needs HIS forgiveness?

Escalation

Escalation

2 Corinthians 8: ²⁰ We are being careful not to stir up any complaints about the way we handle this generous gift. ²¹ Our purpose is to do what is right, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of others.

 

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“I’m going to tell!” was my go to set of words. This meant I could not handle the situation and I was going to escalate this to someone who could. I couldn’t fight, but I could tattle on someone. This particular day I tattled and the adult responded, “You are in trouble too.”

 

• I didn’t realize my complaint was also a problem.
• I was not careful about raising up a complaint to a higher authority.
• I could only see a path to getting “that” person in trouble and did not realize I was in trouble too.

 

Paul speaks about being very careful not to stir up complaints. But who would the people complain to? He knew that his actions needed to be above the level because GOD would see what he did and validate the complaint if it were true.

 

My Observations

• GOD wants me to be very careful about complaining about other people.
• GOD wants me to know HE sees and hears every deed that is done and every word spoken.
• GOD wants me to tame my tongue to speak as few complaints as possible and exchange them for praise.

 

Thinking about the complaints I have said about other people over the years is embarrassing. I mean, if I were to escalate all my complaints to GOD and “that” person would die an eternal death because of my complaint, would I really complain? No. Unfortunately, I do not take complaints seriously enough.

 

I think I can whisper a complaint to a friend and think GOD did not hear it. Satan uses complaints to make his case against each human in an attempt to steal them from GOD’s love. He can’t do it by himself, so if he can use my complaint to help him out, he would gladly do so. I am grateful GOD gives me praise as a weapon to fight my complaining tongue.

 

Challenge

• Why do you think the writer is careful about not stirring up complaints?
• Where do you think complaints land?
• What does it look like to do “right” in the sight of the LORD in your life?
• Will you spit out your bitterness and trade your complaint in for an advocating prayer on the behalf of “that” person today?

 

Dear LORD, we apologize for raising petty complaints up to YOUR throne through the ears of other people. Please forgive us of our complaints. amen

Stop That

Luke 20: One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. ² ‘Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,’ they said. ‘Who gave you this authority?’

³ He replied, ‘I will also ask you a question. Tell me: ⁴ John’s baptism – was it from heaven, or of human origin?’

⁵ They discussed it among themselves and said, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” he will ask, “Why didn’t you believe him?” ⁶ But if we say, “Of human origin,” all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.’

⁷ So they answered, ‘We don’t know where it was from.’

⁸ Jesus said, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’

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“There she goes again” I said to myself with my eyes rolling sarcastically. It seemed like every week the same person would get up and dance in church as the musician egged her on. Then I noticed a few more people would join in.  I wanted to go up to her and say “Stop that”, but I decided to leave that church. I mean, they were phonies, right?

• In the past I questioned other folk’s motives.
• In the past I labeled church goers as hypocrites.
• In the past I looked hard at what people in the church were doing and I critiqued their behavior based upon “my” expectations.

The church leaders questioned why JESUS was telling people “good news.” They were supposed to be “in charge” so they questioned HIS authority to speak about the ways of salvation.

JESUS quickly saw through their controlling hearts and asked them a question they could not answer about the authority of John the Baptist. HE knew the church leaders sided with politicians who murdered John. The church leaders could not answer HIS question.

• GOD says to me “Do not stifle MY sheep.”
• GOD says to me “Help MY sheep grow.”
• GOD says to me “Feed MY lambs.”

Instead of criticizing how people worship, GOD wants me to help them reach others for HIS purposes. I may not do things exactly the way that person does things, but does that make them “wrong?” Maybe not, especially if they are trying to follow GOD’s word.

GOD wants me to bear fruit and I cannot when I am focused on what someone else is doing. I must be responsible for bringing people to HIM and praise HIM for making every human different. I praise GOD for giving my life purpose.

• Are you criticizing what someone else is doing?
• Do you think they are not doing GOD correctly and you are?
• Will you stop trying to control people to do things your way and allow them to be led by GOD?