Numbers 11:10-15 - Always Serve God with a good attitude

The best of us do have the penchant to act wrongly on our worse day. Moses included. We expect him to have the tenacity to be right and act right all the time. But he was also a human like any one of us after all. He too was made of flesh. Hence, he had no immunity to the fallen tendency. He heard the continuous grumbling and weeping of the people, not just a few but throughout the families. Each one was weeping outside his tent. Facing the depressed people, Moses soon caught the bug and was infected by the grumpy spirit.  This is how contagious grumbling can be.  

Of course Moses did not complain about the food. His complaint was about the people.  Hear his rhetoric in verses 11-15, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have put the burden of all these people on me? Was it I who conceived all these people? Or did I give birth to them, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your arms, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’? Where am I to get meat to give to all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat so that we may eat!’ I am not able to carry all these people by myself, because it is too burdensome for me. ¹⁵ So if You are going to deal with me this way, please kill me now, if I have foun5d favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my misery.” A scrutiny at his seeming outburst tells us how self-centered he was for a moment. He shifted his eyes to focus on himself and only saw the “poor me” syndrome. He spoke as if God did not know and did not care about the difficulties he had to endure.  

This always happens when faith dims and when one looks at one’s own inability rather than trusts God's ability. With this attitude, it made him think and behave exactly like those rabbles. He could always present to God in a different way. It was perfectly legitimate to ask God for wisdom, strength, and mental fortitude to deal with the people. It would also be perfectly alright to ask God to change their grumbling mentality and lift up their depression. But it was not okay for him to be so embroiled in the same mire of the miserable complaint. When Moses was complaining he was certainly not interceding. Verse 15 tells us that he even wanted out of the task. He preferred death to the challenge. Just imagine if God had taken him at his word. The whole plan of God would have been foiled and His name discredited. Thankfully God is objective, merciful and gracious.   

The sad thing is that this is a common temptation for us in leadership. We have the proclivity of looking at the weight and gravity of an issue we are confronted with then the ability of our great God, who can see us through. When the people we are tasked to care for refused to go the right way, we can become frustrated and indulge in complaints instead of trusting God to provide the wisdom to walk them through.

What can we do to deal with our fallen inclination? We need to know firstly that any assignment we are given is an assignment from God. When He assigns, He never leaves us to do it with our own strength. He will be there with us in the task. Secondly, we need to know that His wisdom is always available when we ask. He will give us the wisdom we need to deal with the difficulty without reproaching us. This is what James 1: 5 says, “…if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” But when we ask, be sure to ask in faith and undoubtingly. Why? James 1: 6-8 says, “…he for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a  double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” Trust God, rely on Him, seek His wisdom, and do our best in every assignment. We must do all things without grumbling or complaining. It is an honor to serve God!