I always carry food around with me. I hate being hungry. Also, I do not want to subject others to my attitude when I want to eat but food is not available. I keep snacks in my bag for the safety of everyone. I plan for my need.
God has a plan for our needs as well. He is not surprised when problems arise. His provision for the needs is in place before we even become aware of the needs. His ways to solve the situations involve creative and surprising outcomes. All we must do is to acknowledge the need and ask for God for His supply. Unfortunately, many of us do not respond by asking, instead we resort to complaining.
The nation of Israel was known for her complaints, especially when living in the wilderness. They had been miraculously rescued from Egypt, yet in a short amount of time they complained about the conditions in the desert. Forgetting their rescue, their hearts turned bitter and they murmured amongst themselves. Their need was legitimate. The community had no food. However, their complaints grew to obscure their view of the Lord, forgetting what God had done for them in the past and His promise to care for them in the future. Eventually the murmuring led them to grumble against leadership and to desire to return to the land of their captivity.
In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” (Exodus 16:2-3)
They believed the lie that “God rescued us to kill us”. They did not understand the heart of God. In their twisted misconceptions, they grumbled and complained instead of asking the Lord for help, as if He did not want to be there for them. God already had a plan. The Lord had “snacks on hand” to give to them. God was waiting for them to ask so He could send His miracle.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. (Exodus 16:4)
God’s plan for food in the wilderness was to rain down manna, bread from heaven. The Lord was not blindsided by the need or trying to quickly form a plan at the last minute. He already knew what He wanted to do. However, the Lord waited for His people to ask. Sadly, they never did cry out to the Lord for help. Instead of asking, they complained, grumbled, and murmured.
If they had asked and then received, faith would have been built. They would trust God with the next set of overwhelming circumstances. They would learn His heart towards them which would encourage them to persevere. By complaining, however, they created a pattern of being alienated from God through their grumbling. This separated them from their source of Help. God was merciful. He still took care of them. Unfortunately, a complaining pattern emerged. This often led to dire consequences. Often, we treat complaining as not a big deal, but that is not how God views it.
And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. (1 Corinthians 10:10)
Yikes! Grumbling involves the death penalty! Why is this such a big deal? Complaining proves a lack of confidence of who God is and what He can do. To complain is saying “God is not God, He cannot handle my situation.” Complaining is blasphemy. When we grumble, we are showcasing our lack of faith.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Complaining is the opposite of faith, thus it does not please God. When we choose faith, we please the Lord. God is who He says He is. God can do what He says He can do. God has a plan. We can trust Him. We must seek Him through asking, not by complaining. When we do, miraculous answers will come our way. By asking and then receiving from God, we build faith for the next set of circumstances. And we can know that God will meet our need because He is God so we can trust Him to ask for His provision.
Faith is built through asking, trusting, and then receiving. God is faithful. He will take care of you. Remember what He has done in the past and bring the need to Him in the present and watch the miraculous answer in the future!