“And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!” (Numbers 14:2)
This is human nature. We would rather suffer in the familiar than struggle in the unfamiliar. During their captivity in Egypt the Israelites had suffered much. “And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour. And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.” (Exodus 1:13-16) They had cried out to God because of their suffering. “And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;” (Exodus 3:7).
Now God had delivered them with mighty miracles. Their way to the Promised land was not easy, but God was with them. There was a cloud by day that led them and a pillar of fire by night. God had parted the Red Sea for them and provided them with water and had sent the manna. Now they were on the cusp of entering the Promised Land, but it was occupied. Ten spies gave them the bad news. But two, Caleb and Joshua said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:30) But the people rebelled against God and murmured. They said it would have been better to die in Egypt or in the wilderness. And they never entered the Promised Land.
God forbid that we would ever even think that our life before Christ was better. Even if we had possessed all the riches of the world and all the desires of our flesh, we must remember the emptiness of our heart and the misery in our souls which no treasure on earth can fill nor satisfy. “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalms 16:11) The Lord is the One Who fills and satisfies. He is everything we needed. His divine presence in our lives is what we were created for. “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36) Can the struggles and hardships of life overwhelm us? Some are too hard to bear in this world. But with God, Who comforts and strengthens us, nothing is impossible. God glorifies Himself through them.
Paul understood this. Instead of complaints and murmurings, we can say with Paul, “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” (Philippians 1:20) Can we proclaim that no struggle or hardship will cause us to betray His love and His life in us? Can we remain faithful to Him? Yes, sometimes, the struggle is too hard, and we may stumble and even fall, but He is there to revive our hope. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in His way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with His hand.” (Psalms 37:23-24)
Let’s put complaining and murmuring away because even in the struggles and hardships of life, we never had it so good. We are not alone. We have the One True and Only God with us. (Hebrews 13:15) He has given us what we need to live in His realm, where all things are possible. As the angel told Mary, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37) And He has made us to win in every situation and in every circumstance here on earth. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37) We can wake up every morning determined to praise and worship Him in all things, good or bad, because, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalms 118:24)
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