Exodus 17

"'Why are you complaining to me?' Moses replied to them.  'Why are you testing the Lord?'"

Exodus 17:2b

By this point, the people of Israel have witnessed all the plagues of Egypt, have crossed the Red Sea while God split the waters, have watched God drown the entire Egyptian army, have been given manna from Heaven every day for food, and still they test the Lord!

I've said several times throughout this blog that we should always go to the Lord with our needs.  I still stand by that sentiment, but I now want to talk about attitude.  The Israelites are complaining and arguing.  They have seen firsthand that God is able to provide all the sustenance that they need, yet they complain about being taken away from Egypt, where they didn't have to suffer thirst.

Going back to yesterday's talk about Maslow, it's obvious that these Israelites are stuck on physiological needs again - this time, the need for hydration.  However, they know that God can provide this need because they've seen it before!  Last time they were thirsty, they came to a bitter water source, which was made clean by God's miraculous hand!  Last time they were hungry, manna covered the land for them to gather and eat every day!

At this point, the Israelites are no longer crying out to the Lord for help.  They're whining.  Moses is right to call them out on this.  As the Lord's followers, we should know that every need will be provided, one way or another.  Complaining and whining are, simply put, immature and annoying.  If nobody on earth wants to hear you complain, what makes you think God wants to hear it?  He doesn't!  He wants to hear us praise Him and politely ask for help and confidently call out that we know He will help!

Question: Are you like the Israelites, a chronic complainer?  Next time you find yourself complaining, how can you turn that around and make it a praise?  God has done nothing to deserve our complaints.