Exodus 16:3
“And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
The verse above happened not long after the children of Israel were delivered from Egypt. Before this verse, they saw God send the ten plagues upon Egypt to deliver them. They saw God part the Red Sea so they could walk through on dry ground. They saw God close the Red Sea upon Pharaoh’s army. They saw God turn bitter waters into drinkable waters. Yet, they quickly forgot God’s miracles when they faced a time of no food. Instead of praying and asking God to supply their need for food, they complained that they should have stayed in Egypt.
My question for Israel is, what did they expect when they left the land of Egypt? Did they expect the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land to be a journey of no hardships? I fear the children of Israel had unreal expectations of God’s deliverance. I believe they had the idea that once they left the land of Egypt everything would be easy. Their expectations of their journey to the Promised Land were not reasonable. They were going to face hardships, but they needed to trust that God could deliver them through them just like He delivered them from Egypt.
Do you have unreal expectations of the Christian life? Do you find yourself complaining when you go through rough patches in life? If you do, you are not alone. Oftentimes we have unreal expectations of the Christian life. We expect the Christian life to be easy, but that is just not a part of life. Just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean that hard times will stop. Hard times are a part of life, and you must not blame your hard times on God.
Moreover, when you do face hard times, you must keep yourself from the type of thinking that the world never has hard times. Really? All it takes is one day out soul winning for you to see the world has hard times as well. Walk through the hallways of a hospital and you will see that the world has hard times. Quitting on God and going back to the world’s lifestyle is not going to stop your hard times. Hard times are a part of life.
Furthermore, you need to remember God’s power when you face the hard times. Instead of complaining about what you are going through, take the time to stop and remember what God has done for you in the past. If God delivered you in the past, then He can certainly deliver you at the moment of your hard times. Complaining about hard times is not going to stop them, but going to God and asking for His help is what will deliver you from them.
The next time you are tempted to complain about your hard times, remember that God will help you if you will ask Him. Don’t have unreal expectations for life. Realize that hard times come to the saved and lost. The difference for the saved is we have a God Who is capable of helping us through hard times. I encourage you not to complain, but to pray and trust God. He alone has the power to help you, but you must ask Him.