Complaining (Finding fault)

Why we complain? Lack of Faith Forgetting the Promise of God Lack of complete Surrender Constant Complaint Lack of Satisfaction Lack of acknowledgment of God in your life Lack of Good Will Definition: to express dissatisfaction, pain, uneasiness, resentment, finding fault; finding accusation

1st part of story: the complaint Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, “Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

2nd part of the story: the solution And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” The human in trials, prefers to be a slave to Satan than to be free with God! “For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness”

2nd complaint Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.

2nd solution with promise There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”

3rd complaint And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”   

The cry in complaint So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!”

Solution after cry And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”

Why we not learn from these events The Human is up and down, like the waves See the Hand of God Experienced with God Lived it with God Tasted it from God “Is the Lord amongst us or not?” Ex 17:7 We see here, after everything the congregation had gone through, the people still had doubts to whether the Lord was with them or against them? How can a question like this be asked after they experienced the Red Sea, the Manna, & the Rock???

Your love for God MUST remain the same regardless of change in events, change in surroundings, change in timing, change in place, change in circumstances. Are you still the same with God as before, or do you alter your love for God based on what is occurring in your life? The Promise of God to you: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matt 28:20

Question to you Are you with God and working with God or not? God is present with you and work with you in your life. The question is: Are you with God and working with God or not?

The reason for your trials “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.

what you did not complain about… Stayed with you for 40 years; For 40 years, the people of Egypt forgot to complain about the sandals on their feet, and the clothes on their body. For 40 years, God tried to teach them that what you don’t complain about, He will protect it and prevent from any tear. For 40 years, if God took care of the clothes and shoes you wear, “And I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet.” Deut 29:5 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” Luke 12:7

Solution for complaint For even from his infancy, he had always feared God and kept his commandments, so he was not discouraged before God because of the scourge of blindness that had befallen him. Tobit 2:13 The fear of God is the beginning of his love; and the beginning of faith has been joined closely to the same. Sirach 25:16 Therefore, keep yourselves from complaining, which benefits nothing, and refrain your tongue from slander, because secret conversation will not pass into nothingness, and the mouth that lies kills the soul. Wisdom 1:11

5 Solutions to Complaints Train yourself in your life for thanksgiving to God incessantly You have the spirit of satisfaction inside you; Surrender yourself to God and rely on Him fully! Escape from complaining Remember the promise of God, and always remember what He did for you! Live with faith your whole life. Remember you are limited, and He is unlimited. God knows what’s best for you more than you!