Whenever I complain or want to complain, I think of Paul:
Not that I speak in respect of want:
for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:
every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full
and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Philippians 4:11-12
If you think of the Israelites and how they dishonored God by their blaming.
It was more than complaining, they blamed God,
they were not willing to follow Him where He led them.
They wanted things on their terms.
Although they followed Moses who followed God, they did so begrudgingly.
They gave God a lot of grief.
They were not bringing their burdens before His throne
or even letting Moses do that for them,
they were pretty much turning away from God and cursing Him.
It is very possible in the near future as we approach The End,
we will not have all the things we want and like.
Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed,
and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. Matthew 24:9
That doesn’t sound like our flesh will like that so well.
Complaining is not going to help much.
Facing trials like that with God by our side
is the only way we will be able to not deny Him in such adverse conditions.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
and there shall be famines, and pestilences,
and earthquakes, in divers places. Matthew 24:7
Like Jesus warned, there will be famines. Just famines alone sound rough.
We are used to being able to eat what we want and most of us have plenty.
Our time of want is nearby.
Don’t blame it on God. He has warned us.
If you read the bible, the prophets of old
found themselves in dire circumstances.
Jeremiah was sent to the dungeon and sunk down in the mire.
Elijah had to hide and be fed by ravens.
Or how about the apostles?
Stephen was stoned to death.
Paul and Silas were whipped and put in jail.
The Lord did not protect them from adversity.
He walked with them through adversity, if the people let Him.
You can read the Lamentations of Jeremiah
to see how he shared his pain with the Lord.
The Lord was not offended like He was with the Israelites.
It will help us to realize the difference.
God was with Jeremiah. God was with Job.
And He will be with us if we let Him.
Lord, help us to get there, to make it to the end.
Scriptural References:
Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon
of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison:
and they let down Jeremiah with cords.
And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire:
so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
Jeremiah 38:6
Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward,
and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook;
and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
1 Kings 17:3-4
And cast him out of the city, and stoned him:
and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet,
whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God,
and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Acts 7:58-59
And when they had laid many stripes upon them,
they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison,
and made their feet fast in the stocks.
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God:
and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken:
and immediately all the doors were opened,
and every one’s bands were loosed.
Acts 16:23-26