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Grumbling, Murmuring and Complaining

by Chris Simmons

The Israelites witnessed the mighty hand of God. They had seen ten devastating plagues brought upon the Egyptians, while God had protected them (Exodus 8:32; 9:26). God had delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians and they had just embarked on their journey to the land that God had promised them (Exodus 12:25) when they began, and continued, to grumble and complain against Moses and against God. This sin brought about God’s judgment upon them and thousands lost their lives in the wilderness because of it. Grumbling and complaining is sinful and a great offense to God. We are commanded to learn from the example of the Israelites and not sin as they had (I Corinthians 10:9-11). Yet we continue to struggle with this very same sin. Why is that? What are the underlying causes of grumbling and complaining?

One of the causes is selfishness and greed. We are tempted to grumble and complain, not because we don’t have what we need but because we don't have all that we want. James wrote of the problems that come when we are absorbed with our own personal pleasures (James 4:1-4). Rather, we are to be content and contentedness will go a long way to preventing one from grumbling and complaining (I Timothy 6:6-8; Hebrews 13:5; Philippians 4:11).

Another cause is simply a lack of faith. We grumble and complain oftentimes because we do not believe in the promises God has made. Much of the complaining the Israelites did was about their perception that God wasn’t taking care of them by providing them with the food and water that they needed (Exodus 14:11; Numbers 21:5). They lacked faith in God’s ability to provide the promised land that He had promised (Numbers 14:25-32) and so they again complained. We need to be careful to have faith in God’s “precious and magnificent promises” (II Peter 1:4) and not doubt (James 1:6). For example, we need have faith that, though we may be persecuted and suffer unjustly for our faith, God will never desert us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5; Romans 8:31-39).

Grumbling and complaining also arise due to unrealistic expectations. Sometimes, those who become Christians are unrealistic in their expectations that they will no longer have problems or challenges as a child of God and begin to complain when they do (cf II Timothy 3:12; I Peter 4:4). Others complain because they have bought into the false doctrine of “health and wealth,” expecting that God will provide them with a windfall that is physical in nature. Complaining also arises when brethren don’t feel that all Christians need to contribute to the work of the local congregation (cf Ephesians 4:11-16). They falsely expect that someone else will do all of the work that needs to be done and complain when asked to put their hand to the plow. Also, there are those who don’t expect that being a Christian will cost them “much” and then grumble when the cost becomes evident (Luke 14:27-30). We need to make sure that our expectations are in line with what God has revealed to us.

Short sightedness is another root cause of complaining and grumbling. When we fail to see the end goal and what we aspire to, we will be tempted to complain and grumble about our current circumstances. When we are short sighted, we no longer continue to grow in the spiritual attributes that will make us successful and keep us from complaining (II Peter 1:5-9). Satan will work tirelessly to blind us from seeing what God has promised to us (II Corinthians 4:3). Yet if we train the “eyes of your heart” to see “what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18-19) then we will no longer complain about our temporal circumstances but feel as Paul did that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

Finally, a lack of patience is a cause of much grumbling and complaining. We complain in our society whenever we have to wait for anything. Do we sing “In His Time” and then complain because “His time” is not in accordance to our liking? James wrote, “Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:7-8). There’s no place to ever give up and quit as a child of God. The stakes are too high. We will only “inherit the promises” through “diligence,” “faith” and “patience” (Hebrews 6:11-12). We need to take to heart what Solomon wrote, “the end of a matter is better than its beginning; patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit” (Ecclesiastes 7:8).

Grumbling and complaining is sinful and can cost us our souls. But let us not just focus on the symptom but on the causes as well.

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