Category Archives: Grumbling

Life stinks!

11 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in Endurance, Faith, Grumbling, Truth

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Life can be so disappointing!  So hard!

As the Israelites left Egypt to go to the Promised Land, did they think their hardships were over?  If so, can you imagine how disheartened they must have felt when  the Red Sea was in front of them and the Egyptians were hot on their trail? And how did they feel when their stomachs started rumbling from hunger and their mouths were dry and parched from lack of water?  Life challenged them and most of them failed the challenge.

Why? How is that God was not well-pleased with most of them?

  1. Their expectations were faulty. They expected it to be easy.  They didn’t realize their struggles were common to all men.
  2. Their theology was faulty. They didn’t think God was faithful. They didn’t see His daily protection and provision.
  3. Their commitment was faulty. They grumbled and complained against God. They wanted to go back to Egypt.

If you’re in a hard time right now, let me encourage you to:

  1.  Adjust your expectations.  God never promised you an easy life here in this broken world.  But He has promised to be with you every step of the way.  He will make a way for you to endure this hardship.
  2. Check your theology.  God is always good and always faithful.  Do you believe that? Can you cling to that with all your heart?
  3. Examine your commitment. Do you want to follow God even if it means hardship and heartbreak? Fully give yourself to Him, heartbreak and all.  He can handle it!

Caleb was not like the other Israelites.  He was different.

God says of Caleb, “But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land…” Numbers 14:24

1 Corinthians 10

 

A Wasted Day

04 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by in Grumbling, Hope, Purpose

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I started the day with high hopes and my typical list of things to do.  But then life happened.  Things did not go according to plan.  By the end of the day, I felt like I had wasted a whole day. As a matter of fact, I felt like I had even gone backwards. UGH! Feeling disappointed and discouraged, I went to bed, glad for the day to be over.

When I woke up this morning, I knew I better start my day in the Word of God, letting Him renew my mind.  Since Philippians is one of my favorite books, I went there.  And God said to me:

He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.  Do all things without grumbling or disputing.  Philippians 2:13-14

And there you have it!

Every day may not be a great day, but I can be confident that God is at work in me. He is helping me want what He wants.  He is helping me achieve His purpose for my life.  And His purpose can be (and probably is) totally different than my neat little list.

So I will choose not to grumble when things go awry.  Instead, I choose to believe that my loving Creator is working out His plan in me.

…. Ahhh, I feel so much better now.  The sweetness of God’s Word has restored my soul once again.  Thank you, Jesus.