The Sin of Complaining

The Israelites complained a lot and we often reference it as “their issue”, but their example is our warning. Complaining is something that is normalized in our culture. It’s essentially human nature to complain. It has become embedded in our daily routines that we do not even see how we’ve entered into sin, how we’ve grieved the Lord with our dissatisfaction of the gift of life HE has given us. Let’s take a magnifying glass to the example of the Isrealites, for our own sake, especially in this hour and culture.

Throughout their journey to the land of promise, they continually came up against the understanding of the sovereignty of God.

In Numbers 11, the people complained and the anger of the Lord was aroused.

“Now [when] the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard [it], and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed [some] in the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched. 3 So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them. 4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat?”

In Numbers 12, Mariam and Aaron complained against Moses and the Lords anger was aroused again.

“Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 So they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it…So the anger of the LORD was aroused against them, and He departed. 10 And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper.”

In Numbers 14, the people complained about the giants in the land of promise.

“So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”

Each of these instances were kindled by various earthy problems. In Numbers 11, it was due to the intense craving of hunger that verse 4 spoke of. In Numbers 12, it was the dislike of Moses’ wife and questioning his leadership. In Numbers 14, fear had gripped the people that they sought the very thing the Lord had delivered them from.

We often read these chapters with shaking heads not understanding why the Israelites were so quick to turn from the Lord without understanding that we are often just like them. These chapters should be a mirror for us to be searched, not a magnifier of their sin.

We live in a culture that thrives on complaining-- Podcasts, tv shows and livelihoods have been built on this hill of verbally expressing dissatisfaction. This culture has seeped its way into the church. We’ve adopted the voice of Mariam and Aaron, calling our grumbling discernment or inquiry when at its core it is a lack of reverence for the Holy One. How often were we grumbling during a fast because we were hungry? How often did we grumble when we didn’t like what our leadership did? How often did we grumble when God was calling us to something we didn’t feel ready for? How often do we slip into whining about the very blessings we previously prayed for?

The sin of complaining wreaked havoc as it pertained to the Israelites. Moses interceded numerous times due to their lack of trust and hope in God. Crossing the Red Sea was somehow not a big enough point of reference in the minds of the people of God’s kindness and faithfulness. Watching their enemies drown in the sea was not enough to compare to their inability to trust Him. Daily we wake up and stand on the truth that Jesus, fully man and fully God died on the cross for the sins of the world, rose on the third day defeating death, sin and all things that once kept us bound. Somehow in western church culture, we’ve gotten accustomed to that not being enough for us.

Complaining tends to seep in through three major areas— fear, wanting/coveting, and pride.

Fear— Much like explained in numbers 14, it will cause you to be fixed on the problem as being bigger than your God. It’s magnification will shift your focus to an enlarged issue (your inability to do something) rather than the Father’s power working through you, which triggers complaining.

Wanting/Coveting—In Numbers 11, the people were hungry and gave into their desires. That desire required instant gratification and when it wasn’t given, the problem was God and they sought a lesser one—their stomachs.

Pride—In numbers 12, the lack of love and pride Mariam and Aaron had toward their sister-in-law made them question God’s power and thus they grumbled against Moses. It was God who appointed Moses, pride wouldn’t let them see that.

The sin of complaining is dangerous because it can be masked so well. It can be masked as caution or discernment, like Mariam & Aaron. It can be masked as a prayer or a word—religious pride, dangerous territory. We are creative as humans with our grumbling, but it is grumbling nonetheless.

The reality of our earthly situations have become infinitely more magnified than our heavenly reality, so we complain. We whine.

We shake our fist and wonder why He hasn’t done for us. We don’t remember His goodness as Psalm 77 calls us to. We refuse to remember what He has already done because our minds and eyes are transfixed on earth, not Him.

“I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds.”

Psalm 77:11-12

Our knee jerk reaction is to succumb to our earthly situation and present culture to complain because we don’t see a way out in a way that we can understand. We miss the big picture. It’s the reason a dear brother or sister in the faith could rebuke or give us an assignment, and our instinct is to think in our hearts, ‘How will this help me?’ Or ‘I’ve heard this before and it does not work.’ The danger in the complaint is what comes after it—refusal to move forward. Complaining caused the Israelites to long for Egypt. They spoke of slavery as if it was better simply because they were afraid, coveting or envious.

They longed for the place the Lord delivered them from because their present reality weighed bigger than a 10 day journey. Many of us, our present reality is weighing bigger than our eternal hope.

Philippians 2 is a fascinating chapter. The book is written by Apostle Paul in prison as he addresses the church in Philippi. In the opening of the chapter, Paul talks on his current suffering briefly and reminds the saints of the sufferings of Jesus, the way He humbled Himself and was obedient to the point of death. Paul then goes on to tell the saints to, "Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation…” Paul in prison is encouraging the saints to readjust to the big picture. Prison is not causing complaints in Paul. His mind was on the big picture.

There is a crooked and perverse generation that needs the light of Christ that shines within us. However, often the first thing out of the mouth of believers are complaints, grumblings, dissensions. We don’t have a light to offer the world because we are not fully convinced of the goodness of God.  How quick we are to utterly and completely disregard the faithfulness of the cross. Paul’s present reality during Philippians weighed significantly less than the eternal hope he had his mind on. In fact, Paul establishes early on in this letter, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Paul’s mind was so fixated on Jesus that to die was gain. If death is his gain, what on earth would he have to complain about?

As we live now, many of us are waking up daily to the life we once prayed for. Living in a blessing. Living in a land where we can still preach the gospel openly. Yet our minds spend so much time on what we do not have. We do not meditate on what is lovely and pure as Philippians 4 tells us. We meditate on our selfish desires. We meditate on our inability. We meditate on what we want. We meditate on how we can be where someone else is. We covet. We cover. We complain.

The Lord is showing His body a major gap in our maturity to not consider the fulfillment of Christ. There is nothing we are complaining about that cannot be solved with the Holy One. There is nothing that we seek that cannot be found in Him. The way we overcome complaining is a readjustment of our eyes to the eternal reality.

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Colossians 3:2

Practically, we make a daily practice of praising the Lord and remembering all He has done. When you catch yourself complaining, shout hallelujah instead! Give Him the highest praise, and enter His GATES with Thanksgiving. Remember that you are living in an answered prayer! You’re alive and hell is not your portion—answered prayer! Lift up a shout for all He has done and will do! Make Psalm 103 a part of your daily routine. Cultivate a new culture of gratitude.

Remember the Lord your God, forget not His benefits!