Today’s Reading, Numbers 11-13
Focal Scripture: Numbers 11:1 “Now the people began complaining openly before the Lord about hardship. When the Lord heard, his anger burned, and fire from the Lord blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.”
I complain sometimes and it can get out of hand. I have the gift of seeing problems and potential problems before other people. When those things come to fruition I tend to complain to people who are closest to me and vent my frustration. During these venting sessions I complain about people not doing what they should. I also complain about me having to clean up the damage left by others. That negativity is not good, because I focus on the bad instead of the good that the Lord delivers everyday.
In today’s reading the Israelites are complaining about everything. They are complaining about life being hard. They are complaining about not having meat. They are honestly complaining about everything that is not perfectly going their way. When the Lord hears this he becomes angry and pours down fire outside the camp. The people see this happen and become afraid and want the Lord to relent. The Lord does relent and yet they still complain. This attitude eventually causes them more pain because it explodes when they don’t enter the land of Canaan.
So do you have a complaining heart? If you do, it can cause irreparable damage. This attitude can make you focus on what you don’t have instead of what you do have. It can also cause you to make decisions based on emotions instead of decisions based on truth. Too often people make decisions that are man centered and not God centered. A complaining heart will have you make decisions that are against the Lords commands.
I challenge you today to focus on God and his provision. I also challenge you to not be a person who makes emotional decisions because of your complaining. I know in my life I have allowed the complaints to go overboard. I wonder if the Lord has become angry with me and desired to send fire from heaven to get my attention. I hope in my life I can focus on the glory of the Lord and not my lack of faith.
Let today be a day where our hearts are overwhelmed with gratitude not full of complaining.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading Numbers 14-15 & Psalm 90
