Grumble

In his first epistle to the church at Corinth, Paul calls on Hebrew history to make a point. "For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea ..." (1 Cor 10:1). He uses the time of Moses and Israel as a cautionary tale -- "Don't make the mistakes that they did." They all made it through the Red Sea and all ate food and water that God provided (1 Cor 10:2-4), but were not satisfied. "Don't be like them," Paul warns. How? Don't be idolaters (1 cor 10:7) or sexually immoral (1 Cor 10:8) or test God (1 Cor 10:9) or grumble (1 Cor 10:10). Wait ... grumble? What's the big deal about grumbling? Why would that be an issue? I mean, we all do that, don't we? Is that really up there with "idolatry" or "sexual immorality"?

Consider the claims and promises of God. We know, for instance, that "My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Php 4:19). Which needs? All. Which are excluded? None. We know that "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Rom 8:32). What things? All. With what limitation? None. And what about hard times? We know that "tribulation brings about perseverance" (Rom 5:3), that the trials we encounter produces endurance which makes us complete (James 1:2-4). So even those difficulties we encounter God says are for our benefit, for our improvement. They make us fit for the kingdom (2 Thess 1:5). Nothing ... absolutely nothing ... can separate us from God's love (Rom 8:35), and, in fact, in all our trials we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us (Rom 8:37). Because of this, Job, in his despair, could declare, "YHWH gave and YHWH has taken away. Blessed be the name of YHWH" (Job 1:21).

So, how about that grumbling? We think it's minor. We think it's even valid. God should have done something else. God should have done something better. At least, God should have done something. And, the truth is, He did. He did exactly what He intended and, beyond that, exactly what was best for us. And we ... grumble. We call God a liar. We call God unfaithful and unfair. We call God mistaken at best. If only He would do what we wanted Him to do, all would be better. It's a lie, of course. It's nonsense. It is sedition. And, according to Paul, it's dangerous (1 Cor 10:10). Don't be a grumbler. You're only declaring God a failure, and that can't be good for your relationship with Him.