Yesterday, dear Husband (and his chauffeur- me) spent several hours in a large medical facility’s clinic. It was an opportunity to observe humans! The staff was so kind, pleasant, patient, and thorough. Most of the patients were on their good behavior, probably in part because of the kind treatment they were receiving. A few complained about their long wait. Which, of course, didn’t shorten their wait and only made them unhappier. But one woman was off the charts. She was abusive to the staff; she yelled, stomped, cussed, etc. After accusing the staff of not caring about an old lady in pain, she stamped out of the area, cussing as she went. I wondered how an ‘old lady in pain’ could so strenuously argue, and stomp!

Another couple was waiting next to us in the pharmacy and witnessed the shocking scene. The wife was tenderly caring for her very injured husband as they waited. (They must have come from the ER because he had numerous fresh stitches on his forehead.) She looked at me at said, “Why would someone abuse the staff when they’re doing the best they can?!” She had been wiping blood off her husband’s face, comforting him, and expressing her love for him as he sat in a painful daze. She had never complained about his injury or the wait, even though he was obviously in a bad way and they had waited quite awhile. What a contrast, I thought. If anyone could complain, it was her. (Unlike the energetic, angry, ‘old woman in pain’!) I had seen in 3D living color the ugliness of complaining, and the beauty of a quiet spirit.  She reminded me of other examples of not grumbling even in terrible circumstances like the Pilgrims who went through sickness and death without bitterness.

The Bible is full of real-life heroes as well as those who failed the tests in their lives.  We certainly have negative examples who warn us to avoid grumbling. After Moses, as God’s chosen instrument, delivered the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, they encountered hard tests in the desert. Unfortunately, most of them blamed Moses for their troubles. However, who they were really blaming was God!
“…because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord. Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” Exodus 16:7-9

Gulp. Does that mean when I grumble about something that’s happening to me, I’m actually complaining about God?!

Does it require faith not to grumble? Will trusting God is doing the best thing prevent me from griping? Suddenly, complaining is even uglier than I thought. I can get a glimpse of how God sees me when I grumble by noticing my reaction when I hear someone else complain when they don’t have an insider’s view of the situation. Like the angry woman stomping around, throwing nastiness at the hard-working staff member who had worked all day trying to help people who weren’t always grateful.

“If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?. . .  The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? ” Numbers 14:3,11

I had an aunt who often said, “if only __________”. I’ve mentioned her before in this blog because she was a negative example in my life. Her ‘if only’s’ inferred that her husband hadn’t given her what she wanted, or was it God who hadn’t given her what she wanted? ‘If only’ is a sneaky form of complaining.
“If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness.”

And, of course, the eternal, ‘Why?’. Why is this bad thing happening/going to happen? Doesn’t God care about us? This is usually mixed with a good dose of imagination about how bad the future is going to be.
“Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder.”

Then our own solution to the embellished terrible future: Let’s give up and go back where we were. Sometimes the known past, even if it was bad, is better than the unknown future.
“Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”  What a slap in God’s face!  After all he had done to deliver them, now they were denying his goodness.

What is God’s response to our stubborn refusal to believe in his goodness? After bringing us to this point, are we now going to give up on him and ungratefully suggest our own solution?
“The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?”

We may say, ‘Well, if I had seen the miracles they saw, I wouldn’t doubt God. I wasn’t ever a slave and God never did miracles to deliver me. Oh? Have you ever been a slave to an addiction? Or a slave to self-focus, or your career, or locked in a hard family situation? I feel that God delivered me from a difficult family situation as a child, and by his miracles didn’t let me repeat that cycle, but gave me a faithful, committed, godly man who loves me and his children and grandchildren – something I never experienced as a child in my father. Had I not trusted God from a young age, tried to obey, and delighted in the Scriptures, I’m sure my life would look very different now.

Each of us has seen God’s hand of mercy on our lives. He has spared us from many evil things. We’re still alive, we have food and shelter, and the ability to turn in faith to him. I don’t want to grumble, because I’m actually complaining about God’s choices for me. I want the hard things, both little annoying things, and serious things, to push me into his loving arms trusting he is good and will provide what is best for me. I don’t want to grumble. I want to be grateful.

P.S.  Dear Husband got good care for his minor eye injury.