Content with God

"Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.  You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him saying, 'Why did we come out of Egypt?'" (Num. 11:18-20, ESV).

The attitudes of our hearts reveal a world of information.  It is never just "things" with which we are displeased.  If someone gives us a "crappy" gift, we grumble. We say things like: "how could they have given me that?," "this just shows how little they know me," etc.  We fuss and complain.

This account reminds us that grumbling has serious consequences.  And I don't just mean grumbling out loud has consequences.  The grumbling of the lips is little more than the heart's attempt at voicing its opinion without being heard.  If they can't prove I said it, they can't do anything about it.

Israel was whining because they only had manna to eat for a time.  The precious bread from heaven had lost its flavor for them.  They wanted something more.  The preferred the slave master's stew, to the King of heaven's bread.  They were yearning for what they left behind, because they believed it to be greater than what they had received.

It wasn't their tongues that were displeased with manna, it was their hearts that were displeased with God.  They had come to believe that the Lord wasn't worthy of the journey.  He was costing them too much, with too little of a pay off.

In the end, their grumbling cost them dearly.  The meat that they used as an excuse for their displeasure with God was forced upon them.  They had to eat it and eat it until it was running out of their noses.  This "pleasure" became a burden.

Have you ever found yourself dissatisfied with what the Lord has given you?  Are you content with his provision?  Do you believe the Lord is good and just and merciful?  Or do you believe that he asks too much of you, and gives too little in return?  If you find yourself grumbling about the things in your life, take warning.  It could always be worse.  Just as the Israelites discovered, you had better be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.