Josh Benner

Tag: grumbling

  • Grumbling: when we forget God’s goodness

    Grumbling: when we forget God’s goodness

    In the Book of Exodus, God had worked in mighty ways for the Israelites. He had brought a series of plagues against the Egyptians. He dramatically parted the waters of the Red Sea. Once the Israelites were in the desert, God continued to lead. But through a series of uncertain events, the Israelites continued to respond by grumbling.

    They ran low on water. Israel grumbled. God provided water. They didn’t have food. Israel grumbled. God provided food. After all that the Lord had done, the people should have trusted that God would provide.

    But their struggle is one that we too can have. In spite of all of the ways how God has provided for us, blessed us, sustained us, in a time of adversity, it can be easy to fall into grumbling and doubt.

    But this isn’t God’s desire for us. He wants us to live in faith.We can be so quick to forget what God has done, how he’s blessed us.Forgetting can lead to unbelief and faithlessness.Let us actively remember the blessings of the Lord in our lives.

    We forget about his past blessings and forget about his future promises.And so we grumble.God is the Lord of our past, present, and future.God has promise all of his children a wonderful and glorious future.And between now and then, he has not abandoned us in the desert.God is God of your life today.If you’ve placed faith in Jesus, you know that you’re a sinner, saved by grace, and know that Jesus saved you, you have that to thank God for.Ad that’s the most important thing of all.He redeemed you.

    He saved you from the penalty of sin. To remember that the Lord is good. The Israelites lose sight of that.To remember that God made everything and that everything belongs to him.You’re here today. Which means that God has provided for you up to this point in your life. For some of us, it might not have always been easy.There might have been times of real hardship.But we’ve made it to this moment.It’s easy to forget.For some of us, when a blessing gets answered, we might celebrate for a moment, but it can be easy to just move on to the next thing to stress about.And we can go through so much of our lives grumbling, complaining to God, feeling like he hasn’t given us enough.

    For the Israelites, they’ve seen God act in mighty ways, but then they go right back to worrying.The Israelites face difficult situations. And they choose to grumble instead of trust.Part of the root of a grumbling heart is one that loses sight of the sovereignty of God.I mentioned earlier that it was God who had led Israel to their circumstance between the Egyptians and the sea. It was no accident.It was God who was leading the Israelites in the desert. It’s so easy to lose sight of the divine hand of God at work in our lives. Israel did. In our passages, they actually don’t even grumble directly to God. They actually grumble to Moses and his brother Aaron.As if it was their fault.Nothing happens outside of the sovereign will of God.And while they might have directed their complaints to Moses and Aaron, the real displeasure of the people was with God.God is God of all circumstances.

    Job 12:10 refers to God and says: in his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

    Grumbling is a lack of trust in God. Grumbling is feeling like God hasn’t give us enough. It’s a sense that perhaps God isn’t good.Grumbling is turning away from God. It’s complaining to others, it’s ignoring the goodness of God, and is not rooted in the truth of the character of the Lord.We don’t like the unknown.

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  • Gratitude to God in times of difficulty

    photo-1491425432462-010715fd7ed7.jpeg
    After spending a year at Mt. Sinai, the Israelites head back into the desert in Numbers 11.
    In the first ten chapters of the Book of Numbers, things are going pretty smoothly for the Israelites.

    (more…)

  • Grumbling: when we forget God’s goodness

    photo-1473580044384-7ba9967e16a0.jpeg
    Originally published June 6, 2018

    In the Book of Exodus, God had worked in mighty ways for the Israelites. He had brought a series of plagues against the Egyptians. He dramatically parted the waters of the Red Sea. Once the Israelites were in the desert, God continued to lead. But through a series of uncertain events, the Israelites continued to respond by grumbling.

    They ran low on water. Israel grumbled. God provided water. They didn’t have food. Israel grumbled. God provided food. After all that the Lord had done, the people should have trusted that God would provide. (more…)

  • Gratitude to God in times of difficulty

    photo-1491425432462-010715fd7ed7.jpeg
    After spending a year at Mt. Sinai, the Israelites head back into the desert in Numbers 11.
    In the first ten chapters of the Book of Numbers, things are going pretty smoothly for the Israelites.
    They celebrate the Passover, they dedicate the Tabernacle. We don’t really see any major sin issues. But nearly as soon as the Israelites hit the road, they’ll start complaining, a common theme during the Israelite wanderings.
    God had saved, redeemed, and sustained the Israelites.
    But the Israelites struggled with gratitude to God for all that he had done for them.
    We don’t have control over the circumstances that we face in life. But we do always have control over how we respond.
    We can respond by complaining and grumbling or we can respond in faith and confidence in God.
    Viktor Frankel was a psychiatrist who endured the horrors of the Holocaust at Auschwitz.
    After surviving the Holocaust, he wrote a very influential book called “Man’s Search for Meaning.” And part of the thesis of that book is that the most fundamental of human freedoms is the freedom to control how one responds.
    Even in difficult situations, even in broken relationships, even in financial hardships, even in the face of sickness, you still have a choice in how you respond.
    You can despair, you can feel like it’s all pointless and futile. You can get mad at God, question his goodness and love. You can get bitter.
    You can be cynical, you can become self-centered.
    Or you can continue to grow. You can be selfless. You can take the focus solely off of yourself.
    You can still walk with God in the struggle. In the desert.
    You can still trust in God when you’re tired and warn down.
    Our contentment and joy must be found in God.
    God is leading all of his people to greater places. And if we lose sight of that on the journey, we can make the mistakes that the Israelites made of losing sight of the goodness of God.
    Numbers 11:4-6 features the Israelites continuing to complain, while they look back at their time in Egypt (in slavery) longingly.
    Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” 
    They might be complaining about food. But the underlying issues are so much bigger than the divine meal plan.
    “Oh when we were in Egypt, the food was so much better!”
    Verse 20 summarizes the scene well: you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’
    It was wicked and sinful after all that God had done for the people: freeing them, sustaining them, forgiving them when they had fallen into idolatry and sin.
    And yet they have the audacity to say “Oh Egypt. Those were the good old days.”
    Sometimes in life, it can be easy when we’re in a season when things are generally good to go to church, maybe read your Bible sometimes.
    But the moment there’s some adversity and challenge, there’s this temptation to want to complain against God.
    Just like the Israelites, we have many great blessings from the Lord.
    Most importantly, the gift of eternal life that God has promised through Jesus Christ.
    We were slaves to sin. And God redeemed us. God gives his Spirit. God invites us into a relationship to know him. And God is bringing us to a new land too. To a New Heaven, and a New Earth, and a New Jerusalem.
    But sometimes we have to spend some time in the desert to get to the promised land.
    How will we respond when we’re there though?
    Will we criticize God and forget his goodness? Or will we trust him?
    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

  • Grumbling: when we forget God’s goodness

    photo-1473580044384-7ba9967e16a0.jpeg
    In the Book of Exodus, God had worked in mighty ways for the Israelites. He had brought a series of plagues against the Egyptians. He dramatically parted the waters of the Red Sea. Once the Israelites were in the desert, God continued to lead. But through a series of uncertain events, the Israelites continued to respond by grumbling.

    They ran low on water. Israel grumbled. God provided water. They didn’t have food. Israel grumbled. God provided food. After all that the Lord had done, the people should have trusted that God would provide.

    But their struggle is one that we too can have. In spite of all of the ways how God has provided for us, blessed us, sustained us, in a time of adversity, it can be easy to fall into grumbling and doubt.

    But this isn’t God’s desire for us. He wants us to live in faith.

    We can be so quick to forget what God has done, how he’s blessed us.
    Forgetting can lead to unbelief and faithlessness.
    Let us actively remember the blessings of the Lord in our lives.
    We forget about his past blessings and forget about his future promises.
    And so we grumble.
    God is the Lord of our past, present, and future.
    God has promise all of his children a wonderful and glorious future.
    And between now and then, he has not abandoned us in the desert.
    God is God of your life today.
    If you’ve placed faith in Jesus, you know that you’re a sinner, saved by grace, and know that Jesus saved you, you have that to thank God for.
    Ad that’s the most important thing of all.
    He redeemed you. He saved you from the penalty of sin. To remember that the Lord is good. The Israelites lose sight of that.
    To remember that God made everything and that everything belongs to him.
    You’re here today. Which means that God has provided for you up to this point in your life. For some of us, it might not have always been easy.
    There might have been times of real hardship.
    But we’ve made it to this moment.
    It’s easy to forget.
    For some of us, when a blessing gets answered, we might celebrate for a moment, but it can be easy to just move on to the next thing to stress about.
    And we can go through so much of our lives grumbling, complaining to God, feeling like he hasn’t given us enough.
    For the Israelites, they’ve seen God act in mighty ways, but then they go right back to worrying.
    The Israelites face difficult situations. And they choose to grumble instead of trust.
    Part of the root of a grumbling heart is one that loses sight of the sovereignty of God.
    I mentioned earlier that it was God who had led Israel to their circumstance between the Egyptians and the sea. It was no accident.
    It was God who was leading the Israelites in the desert. It’s so easy to lose sight of the divine hand of God at work in our lives. Israel did. In our passages, they actually don’t even grumble directly to God. They actually grumble to Moses and his brother Aaron.
    As if it was their fault.
    Nothing happens outside of the sovereign will of God.
    And while they might have directed their complaints to Moses and Aaron, the real displeasure of the people was with God.
    God is God of all circumstances.
    Job 12:10 refers to God and says:
    In his hand is the life of every living thing
    and the breath of all mankind.
    Grumbling is a lack of trust in God. Grumbling is feeling like God hasn’t give us enough. It’s a sense that perhaps God isn’t good.
    Grumbling is turning away from God. It’s complaining to others, it’s ignoring the goodness of God, and is not rooted in the truth of the character of the Lord.
    We don’t like the unknown.
    Israel didn’t know how they’d get water, they didn’t know how they’d get food. And even with the promises and presence of God, they didn’t know how it was all going to work out.
    At a certain point, you need to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
    I think we sometimes look at the Old Testament. We see the things God did there and think “well yeah, it’d be easy to believe back then.” But people still often struggled, even when seeing incredible signs and miracles that the Lord was doing.
    Because it’s not constant wonderment and awe. We live in the real world and it’s really imperfect.
    But when we don’t know what’s going to happen, when we don’t see the clearest path of how we’re going to get to a destination, let me challenge you today.
    Instead of doubting or being a catastrophist, instead look to God and see how he’s going to work.
    Do you have a situation in your life right now? That’s causing you stress? That’s robbing you of joy? That’s distracting you from God and where you’re tempted to grumble?
    Let me challenge you in that situation to consider that the same God who’s blessed your life, the same Lord who came into the world and died so that you be reconciled to him, the same God who has made you eternal and glorious promises is also your God for today.

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.