“And say to the people, ‘Purify
yourselves, for tomorrow you will have meat to eat. You were whining, and the
Lord heard you when you cried, “Oh, for some meat! We were better off in
Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat
it. And it won’t be for just a day or two, or for five or
ten or even twenty. You will eat it for a whole month
until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here
among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” Numbers 11:18-20
My mom is an amazing woman.
I watched her struggle through getting a Master’s degree away from home
while raising me through my first year in high school. To make
things a little more ‘challenging,’ she would be sick some days to the point
that she was hospitalized for multiple days and even weeks. Through all
of this, she never complained. It left quite the impression on me.
I learned never to complain about my circumstances. That is not to say
that I was always content, but whenever I find myself whining over a situation,
I remember the incredible blessings God had given me to end up in that
situation. Then, it becomes easier to manage.
We must always focus on those
blessings God has given us rather than the complications that may arise from
them. In today’s verses, God is answering Moses, who went to Him on
behalf of the Israelites complaining about their food supply. Here they
were having been slaves for generations and both freed and witness to
miracles performed by God, and they are now coming to God with . . .
complaints about dinner? It is amusing to read because it seems silly
that the Isralites in essence would rather give up their freedom to
have steak every once in a while than eat breaded wafers (manna) every day and
be free. But then I thought about it. We all complain about some
circumstance not realizing how God has blessed us to arrive at that moment (Why
do I have to do this task for the job that I love? Why do I have to go to
this function for my spouse who is the love of my life? Why do I have to
forgive this person because God forgave me for far worse?). This is the
point. We should always focus on God's love, grace, and gifts
given above the challenges we are presented with because of those
very things.
We serve a God of abundance who
promises to provide all that we will ever need. Sure there are times we
have problems that we would rather not deal with, but we should never forget
the blessings given us that put us in that very position for as Moses told
the Israelites, “You ate no bread and drank no wine or other
alcoholic drink, but he provided for you so you would know that he is the Lord your God.”
(Deuteronomy 29:6) What problem(s) can you embrace today realizing the
blessings that brought you to it? My prayer is that we focus on the
blessings we have and simply stop whining. Amen.
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