Thanksgiving Or Or Complaining

Numbers 11:1 NKJV - “ 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.”

A certain man who was well-known for his constant complaining inherited a large sum of money. When he got it, he complained because it was not as much as he thought it should be.

He bought a farm, with his money, and asked his wife what she thought he should name it.

She quickly answered, "Why don’t you call it ‘Belly Acres’?"

The person who gives thanks can find comfort in everything, while the person who complains can find comfort in nothing.

I wonder if we could put a sign up on a highway leading into Florence SC that read: “Florence, S.C. The Home of 37,000 friendly people and a few sore-heads.”

The truth is all of us at times become sore-heads. Now, we may know it by different terms -- such as griping, grumbling, whining, or belly-aching.

In the King James the common term used was “murmuring.” Regardless of the word we use to describe it, complaining always has the same symptoms. The dictionary defines it as “an expression of unhappiness, dissatisfaction, or discontent.”

Complaining is the outward expression of being discontent within.

I doubt this message will apply to anyone here, this morning.

I’m sure that NONE of you have a problem with complaining, but you probably know someone who needs to hear it, kind of like the church pessimist said, after the sermon one Sunday on the subject of being negative;

“Preacher, you told it like it was today and if the negative people had been here you sure would have told them a thing or two.”

People grip about everything.

Groups of people get together and before you know it someone is complaining about someone or something.

Employees complain about the company they work for. Students complain about teachers and workloads.

Complaining could be called a way of life for many people.

Just about everybody complains. And why not? There’s a heap to complain about: traffic, taxes, health care cost, the government and on and on we go!

I posted a complaint on facebook the other day about the "Healthcare .gov" In preparing for the Thanksgiving message God lead me to this sermon and now I’m having to deal with my whining…

Did you know that complaining is not new. Here’s a trivia question for you. Who was the first complainer? Adam…Remember what he said when he got caught with his hand in the fruit basket? "the woman You gave to be with me."

Complaining is one of the most dominant sins among Christians. And yes I said SIN.

Complaining is a symptom of failure to trust God and to be submissive to His provision in your life.

Complaining is a serious sin.

Numbers 11:1 says “And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it; and His anger was kindled”

Listen to this verse in the NLT - 1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the LORD heard everything they said. Then the LORD's anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp.

After God had greatly blessed His people, Israel, delivering them supernaturally from slavery in Egypt, protecting them against their enemies - even miraculously supplying daily bread and water for them in the desert, they complained.

They complained about their food; complained about the so called luxuries they had left behind in Egypt; complained against their leaders.

Finally, when they complained about the manna, "the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly."

Let me give you three reasons why God is displeased with complaining:

I. Complaining DENIES God’s supreme authority and power.

Pharaoh asked, “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice,” Pharaoh thought he was a god. The all-powerful God of the universe showed His power. The Israelites leave Egypt wealthy. They go through the Red Sea on dry land, and God destroys their enemies.

Their success in entering the promise land depended on the Sovereignty of God, so when they complained against Moses and Aaron, they were questioning God’s ability to do what He said He would do.

Complaining is the evidence that we are dissatisfied with the way God is doing things.

We need to recognize our sin and then realize and acknowledge that our heavenly Father always knows what’s best for us--even down to the microscopic problems that He allows us to face.

One big problem for the people in Numbers 11 was that they kept on complaining about their wilderness diet. They talked about what great food they had in Egypt.