Grace and Grumbling

The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites . . .” (Exodus 16:11-12)

How long did it take? At first there were only whispers. Murmurs exchanged in private conversation. Everyone was thinking the same thing but words were still being carefully guarded, remarks tempered and measured.

Finally the whispers gave way to openly shared “prayer concerns” as small groups of Hebrews gathered in tents for times of mutual support; group members nodding their concern over the shrinking food supply. Eventually, well, forget about those piously spoken prayer concerns. They’d had enough. The whispers were now full blown complaints. The people grumbled, their words a blend of venomous accusation and pathetic whining.

As much as I hate to admit it, I’m a skilled grumbler. Raised in the South, I am practiced at grumbling with a polite smile. I’ve grown adept with remarks spoken sideways, slipped in with just enough edge to scrape without drawing blood. I know how to lob a comment into mid-air, aimed at no one in particular, a hail-Mary kind of sentence thrown out for anyone willing to reach up and grab it. My grumblings often begin in silence. They don’t stay that way for long. They morph into innuendo and interrogative. Finally they bloom as bald complaint. Usually my wife is the lucky audience in these moments.

Please understand. I don’t grumble all the time, just enough to keep my skills sharp. From time to time a circumstance arises that can easily be blown out of proportion or obsessed over until the grumbling bubbles to the surface. Maybe you struggle with this too. Scripture tells us to give thanks in everything, but gratitude and grumbling compete for air time. Too often gratitude loses.

Amazingly, the same God who hears the cries of his people in Exodus 3 also hears their grumbling in Exodus 16 – and responds to both with grace. The cries of the people reached God and God delivered them from slavery. Their grumbling also reached God, and God gave food, manna in the morning and quail in the evening, day after day.

The story of how the people grumbled in their hunger is not meant to show the pettiness of the people. This is a story that shows us the mercy of God. We can understand how the cries lifted up in slavery would move God to mercy – but the grumbling? Still, the response is the same. “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.” And God gave them food. As the Psalmist says, “God spread a table in the desert” (Psalm 78:19).

Why does God tolerate our grumbling? Why does God agree to fill his people with heaven’s bread? Here’s why: “Then you will know that I am the Lord your God” (Ex. 16:12).

God’s intent is clear, whether we’re grateful or grumbling. God wants us to know who he is, and to know ourselves as a people belonging to God. There’s plenty of grace even in our grumbling; we get what we don’t deserve. And maybe, we get more of God.

Prayer:
I ask you, O God, to make me grateful and forgive my grumbling. Teach me to look for you – not only in the blessings you give, but in the disappointments as well. Reveal yourself to me, even as I complain. As I learn more of you, may grumbling fade and every part of my life be a response to your goodness and grace. Amen.