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! 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?" So they said to one another, "Let us select a leader and return to Egypt."
Numbers 14:2-3
I love to travel -- to see new places and step outside of my comfort zone. But imagine traveling for 40 years -- without a plane, train, or automobile -- through barren wilderness. Talk about a long trip! Without even a clue of your destination, much less how you would feed yourself everyday, you could only trust God. And imagine that after 40 years, indeed, He had fed you, protected you, and led you every step of the way. Wouldn't you be absolutely thrilled to reach your destination after such a tedious journey? After seeing God bring you all these miles, over a span of more than fourteen thousand days, wouldn't you believe wholeheartedly that He could get you through one final day? The Israelites didn't.
After traveling 40 years through the wilderness, only the Jordan River separated the Israelites from the Promised Land. Literally only a day's journey away, they were so close... but something was wrong. They'd received reports that giants dwelled in the land -- "men of great stature" (Numbers 13:32) who were "stronger than we" (Numbers 13:31). And so instead of seeking the Lord, they began complaining. "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in the wilderness!" (Numbers 14:2). Nevermind God's faithfulness to deliver them out of Egypt, or to deliver them across the Red Sea, or to provide manna for them as food everyday in the wilderness (Exodus 16:31).
To them, the situation seemed so hopeless that they would have rather spent potentially another 40 years traveling back to Egypt -- where they would again be slaves! But had they forgotten what a cruel, harsh place Egypt was? Couldn't they remember what a horrible life they'd left behind there, working around the clock, with no pay, no food, and forced to make bricks with no straw? Why would they second-guess four decades of God's faithfulness in light of a single obstacle ahead? Why would they complain? No doubt, complaining is easier than maturing.
You see, it's easy to complain. It's easy to grumble about a situation, or to point the finger at someone when things don't go right. But it's impossible to trust God and complain at the same time. The first sign that you're in the flesh is that you're complaining. A complainer will never mature, never grow, never progress in his walk with the Lord. If we are complaining, we are not listening. If we are accusing, we are not edifying. If we are attacking, we are not forgiving.
A complainer can't think clearly because he doesn't care about what is true -- only about what is self-preserving. A complainer can't take a step of faith because he can't hear God's voice over his own bemoaning.
It takes faith to grow in the Lord. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God." You don't want to be someone who misses out on the Promised Land because you didn't have the faith to take the final step. The Israelites didn't have the faith and, except for Caleb and Joshua, they all died before reaching the Promised Land.
In life, we all face obstacles -- sometimes extremely difficult circumstances -- but is God not able to overcome them? Why, then, should we fear? Why should we complain? Let us not be like the Israelites, who ignored the extreme faithfulness of God at the mere idea of defeat, only to defeat themselves by complaining.
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