Morning By Morning #121

All the Israelites grumbled.

Numbers 14:2

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

There are grumblers among Christians today just as there were grumblers in the Israelite camps of old. When the Lord deems it necessary to dispense His rod of correction, there are believers who cry out against it, saying, “Why am I so afflicted! What have I done to be disciplined in this way?”

Allow me to have a word with you, O grumbler! Why should you grumble against the correction dispensed by your heavenly Father? Is it even possible for Him to treat you more severely than you deserve? Consider what a rebel you once were—yet He has pardoned you! Surely, if in His wisdom He now sees fit to discipline you, you should not complain. After all, have you really been afflicted more strongly than your sins deserve? When you honestly consider the corruption in your heart, will you continue to question the level of correction needed to remove it?

Evaluate yourself, attempting to discern the great amount of dross mixed with your gold, and then tell me if the refiner’s fire is too hot to purge such a large amount of dross? Doesn’t your proud rebellious spirit prove your heart is not completely sanctified? Isn’t your grumbling itself contrary to the holy, submissive nature of God’s children? Don’t you need the correction?

If you continue to complain against God’s discipline, take heed, for it goes hard for grumblers. God always corrects His children twice if they do not patiently submit to His first attempt. But know this: “He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men” (Lam. 3:33). All His corrections are sent in love to purify you and to draw you closer to Himself.

Recognizing your Father’s hand will most assuredly help you bear His discipline with the patient spirit of submission “because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son” (Heb. 12:6). If you “endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons” (Heb. 12:7).

“Do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel” (1 Cor. 10:10).

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Complaining is so common it is almost as though we have forgotten it is sin. We tolerate it in our lives and in the lives of those around us, but it still grieves the heart of God.

“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger…along with every form of malice” (Eph.4:30 – 31). Doesn’t complaining lead us to “bitterness, rage and anger”? Then, as Paul says, we are to “get rid” of it!

Of course, we will get rid of it—one way or the other. Either we will remove it from our lives ourselves or we will force the Lord to remove it through correction and discipline. So it comes down to this, which road would you rather travel? And which road will bring greater glory to God?

James tells us: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, then, to God” (James 4:6 – 7). But He goes on to say, in essence, that instead of grieving the Lord, we should “grieve, mourn, and wail” (v. 9) over our own sin.