Day 30 with Moses: Complaining against the Lord is not a good idea.

“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.””

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭16:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In April of 2019 our family was called “out on the water with Jesus” to leave a church with which I had been associated all my life, and in which my whole family had ministered for decades, to start the work of the Lord known as “Ararat Church.” We then left all we had known at the end of July 2019, with the first service of Ararat Church being on September 1, 2019 (to the glory of God!). I start with this information because it is within this context that what I am about to share with you happened.

Not long after beginning Ararat Church, I was in my kitchen working and my mind went back to different things people had done—within and after the time of our leaving out onto the water with Jesus—things that made no sense in my mind and my heart, things over which I felt hurt. Interrupting that flow of thought the Lord spoke to me as clearly as He has ever spoken to me about anything. He said, “That is offensive to Me.” Well, that statement got my attention; then the Lord went on to tell me something that I will put in my own words. The Lord basically told me that my thinking about what other people had done to wrong me was actually an accusation against Him! After all, we were doing what we were doing because God had brought it to pass. Therefore, my complaints were, although inadvertently, against the Lord.

I know we try to make a distinction between our complaints about what people have done to us as opposed to complaining about what God has done. But, make no mistake, if we are walking in the will of God, then everything that happens to us is being used by Him for a purpose. Now, this does not rid anyone of the responsibility of anything they have done out of bad motives. But, that aspect of our situation, has to be left to the Lord’s judgment.

In our “47 Days of Justice,” we looked at the journey of Joseph as he was sold into slavery, then became the right hand man of Pharaoh. His brothers meant to do him harm; and they were wrong in doing what they did. However, Joseph was able to say this to them:

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day].”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭50:20‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Sometimes we want to have it both ways. In other words, we want to enjoy the place God has put us, but complain about the things anybody has ever done against us, or any other thing we didn’t like along the way. In God’s economy it just doesn’t work that way. Any accusations cast concerning our plight, ultimately point to our Father Who has allowed us to be where we are.

Today we find Moses dealing with an irate multitude accusing Moses and Aaron of bringing them out in the desert to die. But the fact is—and as they had clearly seen in the miracles to this point—the Lord was the One Who brought them out of Egypt. Therefore, their complaint was against Him. Additionally, this tendency toward complaining against the Lord, would get them in more and more trouble along the way.

Don’t misunderstand, the Lord does not mind us telling Him of our situation, even of the fact that people have done us wrong, or that we are experiencing pain, discomfort, sorrow, any of our concerns; He wants us to share our heart. But, it’s a different issue entirely when we allow our mind to go into bitter thoughts about what this one or that one has done, or how sad it is that we’re having to experience this or that. On the one hand, we are letting our needs be known to the Lord; but on the other, we are accusing the Lord of dealing with us unjustly.

For today let us discover what Moses discovered:

Complaining against the Lord is not a good idea.

#40dayswithmoses