Grumble Rumble is a website that allows you to air your complaints. It claims: “Our goal is to help you improve your life surroundings and reduce your stress by providing an easy, simple platform to register and resolve complaints.”

If there had been a website like this during Moses’ time, the Israelites would surely have been among its key patrons. Three days after they marched out from Mount Sinai they started to grumble (Numbers 11:1-3). A short time later, they were grumbling again. We want our garlic! And like little children deprived of their toys, they sat at the door of their tents and held pity parties (Numbers 11:4- 10). The next incident came up in Numbers 12:1-2. This time the complaint was about leadership.

Israel had developed a pattern of grumbling. By the time we reach Numbers 14, it was “the last straw.” God was gracious and longsuffering, but the time finally came when enough was enough. Israel reached that point at Kadesh. The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat Me with contempt? Will they never believe Me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?” (Numbers 14:11).

The Israelites had witnessed the 10 plagues that God brought upon Egypt. They had seen God part the Red Sea before them. They had seen and heard the evidences of God’s majestic presence at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16-19). And in the Sinai wilderness, God had performed daily miracles as He cared for His chosen people and their livestock.

Let’s avoid the Israelites’ example. When we complain, we lose sight of all the good things God is doing. Ultimately, we lose faith and drag others down with us. No grumbles. No rumbles. Humble gratitude is what God deserves from us.

NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Ecclesiastes 12:1-14