Complaints and Fire

Complaining is one of those things all people tend to do that is not necessarily sinful in itself yet can be an indication of a wicked heart that is displeasing to God.  Even when a complaint is justified, our pride and anger can be stirred to transgress in self-righteousness.  We can have our facts straight and our thoughts, feelings and attitudes disjointed from the faith, hope and love Jesus leads us to submit to.

It is perfectly wise to pour out our complaints to God as the psalmist Asaph did in Psalm 77:3:  "I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah."  In an ironic twist these overwhelming thoughts and feelings turned out it to be Asaph's problem, not God's.  While a complaint can be an expression of grief or dissatisfaction, it can also be a judgment or protest against something viewed as unacceptable.  Should our complaint be about what God has done or allowed, Who is only righteous, wise and good, it makes a man sinfully rise up in criticism of God.  To take our complaint before the LORD is one thing, but to murmur and complain to others--as if God has done wrong--reveals a heart has veered from faith and reliance on God.

Numbers 10:33-11:3 is a compelling example of how complaining can be displeasing to God:  "So they departed from the mountain of the LORD on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them for the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them. ³⁴ And the cloud of the LORD was above them by day when they went out from the camp. ³⁵ So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said: "Rise up, O LORD! Let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You." ³⁶ And when it rested, he said: "Return, O LORD, to the many thousands of Israel." ¹ Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. ² Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the LORD, the fire was quenched. ³ So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them."

I wonder:  why did the people complain?  God wasn't the source of the problem but unbelief, selfishness and pride in the hearts of His people.  The presence of God was with His people to guide and protect them, yet they complained.  The text does not say they complained to God but is inferred they loudly murmured in their tents like countless other times.  Their complaining displeased the LORD and His fire burned among them and consumed some of them, even as their murmuring spread like fire in the camp.  Their loud complaining quickly shifted to crying out to Moses, and God immediately responded to his intercessory prayer and quenched the flames.  Complaints and fire share things in common, like how they tend to spread and do great damage.  God was displeased by the complaining of the people, and the people were displeased by the fire He sent.  The response of God Who committed His Law to Moses showed just how destructive complaining is in a spiritual sense when His fire burnt among them, a just response like an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a burn for a burn.

It is good for us to realise when we complain and murmur over what we deem unsatisfactory or troubling, we can be unknowingly complaining against God.  Better to direct our concerns to God ourselves and be casting our cares upon Him than to vent our complaints to whoever happens to be at hand.  Complaining spreads like a fire among people and with this God is not pleased.  It is when we bring our complaints to Him we are enlightened, not with the burning heat of a flame that scorches skin, but by the Light of the World Jesus Christ pierced for us.  He turns our complaints into praise, for the Holy Spirit reminds us of God's great works and His glorious redemption by His grace.