by: Dr. Allen Domelle
Numbers 14:2
“And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!”
Have you ever walked down the street and felt a little pebble inside your shoe that caused discomfort to your heel? Every time you put your foot on the ground, you felt that poking on the heel that hurt. You have two choices at that point; you can leave the pebble in the shoe and continue to experience discomfort, or you can stop and take your shoe off and remove the source of the irritation.
Just like the pebble in the shoe, the children of Israel seemed to have that discomfort in their lives that led them to murmur continually against the LORD and Moses. Instead of removing the source of their discontentment, they focused on it and allowed it to destroy their spirit and future. The verse above is a classic illustration of this as they murmured against Moses because they were told by the ten spies that the land of Canaan was too difficult to overcome. In this story, four sources caused the discontentment that led to their murmuring.
The first source of discontentment was that they made everything about themselves. In the verse above, you can’t help but see that these people were consumed with what they wanted and not what was best for the LORD. The only reason you would complain is because you have made life about yourself. Ministry workers who complain to their pastors are often consumed with what others are doing to them, or they complain because they don’t get what they want. You will never be satisfied in the ministry or life if you continually make life about your desires. In the ministry, life cannot be about you; it must be about what is best for others and for the big picture of that ministry.
The second source of discontentment was that they wanted the Promised Land without the struggle. Selfishness always leads to an entitlement mentality that you should get everything without having to work for it. My friend, instead of expecting everything without a struggle, develop a mentality to work for what you get. Discontentment will always be your plot without a working mentality.
The third source of discontentment was their lack of faith in God. These people were saying that the LORD brought them into the wilderness so He could slay them. Don’t be so shortsighted in your life that your faith wanes and leads you to be discontented with what the LORD has given you. Discontentment always flees from a strong faith in God.
The fourth source of discontentment was their inability to see the whole picture. They couldn’t see that God wanted to show His strength to the rest of the world by defeating the giants and knocking down the walls. Many people become discontented because they are looking through their small prism of what they perceive everyone should do. You may not agree with your leader, but you must understand that your leaders see the whole picture that you do not see. You must trust their ability to see the whole picture and focus your energies on what you should be doing.
Friend, discontentment always leads to murmuring. If you keep your eyes focused on the LORD, you will never find these sources of discontentment in your life.