Numbers 11:1-3 1Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. 2The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD and the fire died out. 3So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them. God does not like complaining. Much like parents don’t like the whining of their children. Complaining is communicating a message. It could be demonstrating a lack of trust or dissatisfaction. Complaining demonstrates a lack of trust. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” The complaining spirit isn’t concerned about pleasing God. They are focused on their own needs. Faith say that God will provide in this situation and it will be good. The complaining person is discontent in the situation. They don’t see the goodness that He can bring. God uses difficulties in our lives. Romans 1:3-5 says “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” God uses disappointing and difficult situations to improve us. That’s how it works. When we complain, we are disapproving of God’s methods. For God, that’s personal. We are saying that He doesn’t know what He’s doing. I can recall the insecure feeling when I performing a task in front of someone and they are critical. I can feel my confidence ebb away. It’s difficult when someone doesn’t believe in us. So it is with God. The second possible motivation is dissatisfaction. It’s not that they don’t think God is capable, but they don’t like the particular situation. The previous underlying motive was fear. “I’m in trouble” is the narrative. This motivation is “I don’t like this”. This comes from a very different heart. It also comes from distrust. The Bebrews passage quoted earlier says that we must believe that God is a rewarder of those that seek Him. This person doesn’t understand that we need to endure to receive the reward. The person that “doesn’t like it” may be too proud or disgusted by the situation. We need to understand that Jesus purposefully associated with prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners. They weren’t His main crew, but He went to them. This shocked the authorities of the day. This was further evidence to them that He wasn’t of God. How ironic that He was the very God that they were trying to serve. I had a multiyear problem at work that drew complaints from me. It was painful. I would speak to my friends of it often. It was a way to soothe the pain. Some of it was therapeutic. I’m sure some of it was complaining. What made it difficult was the length of time and the damaged relationship with my boss. This was torture for a people pleaser. God got me through and I learned to not fear man. I had to trust that I was doing a good job, even though I didn’t feel supported from my boss. In the end it was liberating. Lord, help us to trust You. Give us the faith to praise You in the difficulties.