Breaking Free Series – July 6th
How to replace a complaining attitude – Numbers 11:1-10
Acknowledgement: James MacDonald ’Lord Change My Attitude Before It’s Too Late’
Introduction
Man went to monastery – where he stayed for three years. They only allowed him to say 2 words a year – at the end of the first year he said “Beds Hard,” 2nd yr - Food Cold, 3ry yr - I Quit - to which the Father replied, well it’s no wonder--all you’ve done since you came here was to complain.
Good morning. We have been in a series called Breaking Free. The Holy Spirit is breaking us free from those strongholds in our lives. The Apostle Paul in writing to the Corinthian church says ‘we have divine power to bring down strongholds (2nd Co. 10:4).”
When Paul wrote about strongholds the Jews had in mind a fortress to protect their lives from the enemy
One fortress was Masada
If you go to Israel you can tour the ruins of Masada
In 67 AD the Romans ransacked Jerusalem – exactly what Jesus prophesied
Some of the Jews fled for their lives to Masada
It took the Romans three years to build a siege to get to the Jews within the stronghold of Masada
When they got to the top they found the whole community had committed suicide
So the Jews have this picture in mind (slide) when the Apostle Paul wrote we have divine power to bring down strongholds
But there are spiritual and satanic strongholds. A stronghold is impenetrable by human methods. Only the Holy Spirit and God’s word can break down the strongholds in our lives.
We have looked at the strongholds of pride, envy, anger, and today we will wind up this series with the stronghold of complaining.
First I want to acknowledge the work of James MacDonald’s book ‘Lord change my attitude before it’s too late.’
In regions of Mexico hot springs and cold springs are found side by side, and because of the convenience of this natural phenomenon the women often bring their laundry, boil their clothes in the hot springs, and then rinse them in the cold springs.
A tourist watching this procedure once commented to his Mexican guide, “They must think God is generous to provide so much free hot and could water!” The guide replied, “No, s˜enor, there is much grumbling because he does not supply the soap!”
The children of Israel were no different: they grumbled constantly. Today were looking at this passage from the Old Testament about the people of Israel.
They had seen the miraculous deliverance by God – about a million of them were set free from slavery in Egypt.
God assigned Moses to lead them to the Promised Land. But somewhere along the journey they lose heart – they start to complain.
They complain because they recall some of the good food from Egypt. They really doubt God and his call on their lives. They doubt his purpose for their lives. They doubt his provision in their lives. They doubt his promise for their lives.
But we can learn from this. The Bible says ‘These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come (1 Co. 10:6).
There are three lessons that we need to learn from this passage.
1. Wilderness attitude number one is complaining
God knows everything and sees everything
He knows whether your in the desert or on the mountaintop
He is your provider
He will meet your needs wherever you are, so don’t complain
Say it in sentence ‘complaining is an attitude choice that if left unchecked will kill my capacity to experience joy and genuine thankfulness’ (James MacDonald)
Complaining is contagious
Complaining is like a cancer, a wildfire, it spreads rapidly!
Cancer is dangerous, and so is complaining!
It often starts with one person and spreads around as is evidenced by our text this morning
Compare our way of life with the low quality of life people in other countries experience. Is it fair for us, with our rich infrastructure, our clean water, our incredible natural resources, to complain when poor Indians from India have to climb over sleeping beggars on their way to work? Who should be complaining here?"
We are warned over and over not to complain
Complaining is when I express resentment over circumstances that are beyond my control
God says the worst kind of complaining is ‘those who complain about adversity’
Why me?
Why do I have to go through that?
Why do I have to go through this and others have it so easy?
Why can’t my life be normal?
Why do I live in Red Lake?
Why do I have this husband?
Now for sure life is tough
I grieve for those who are sick with cancer
I grieve for those who have health issues
For some it’s a hard marriage
For that young woman who would like to have a baby, and everyone around her is pregnant
For that woman who had a miscarriage – that silent pain
For that person who has chronic fatigue
That is adversity; that is where life is hard
God says don’t deny it but bring it to me (Matthew 11:28)
If God brought you to it He will carry you through it
The Israelites should have known this
They had their backs to the wall
The Egyptian army with far superior manpower on one side; the Red Sea on the other
They were in-between; caught between a rock and a hard place
Have you ever felt that way?
Then the miracle happened ‘Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long (Exodus 14:19-20)
Without that miracle there would be no nation of Israel today
So God our deliverer says don’t have a complaining spirit
But instead of rejoicing in all the good things God has done in our lives we complain about that one thing – whatever it is
God hears it all and God hates it
The Bible says God’s anger was aroused against them
Remember this ‘if I choose complaining as a lifestyle I will spend my lifetime in the wilderness.’
That is true personally and as a faith community
Remember this ‘complaining satisfies our sinful nature’
What do you have to complain about?
You say Pastor I have lots to complain about and it is hard
The Bible tells us to have a thankful heart
Here are some verses about giving thanks
1st Chron. 16:34
Psalm 7:17
Psalm 100:4
Col. 3:17
Last week we talked about the stronghold of anger
But we concluded there is a righteous anger
Now we can easily think ‘well God gets angry for murder, adultery, drunkenness, drugs, you know the big ones’
But complaining?
Yes we read that even God has the emotion of anger
He was angry because they are so ungrateful
So the wilderness attitude is complaining
God hears my complaining and he hates it
2. Wilderness point number two: we choose our attitudes
The Israelis chose their attitudes
We choose our attitudes
Now this is not the most popular message to preach
Really one on love and forgiveness is easier
Nobody wants to be told ‘your attitude problem is in the mirror’
But unless we look in that mirror and make different choices we will always be in the wilderness
I know what is best for me; I am OK, don’t worry about me
And as we just read God was grieved
And there were consequences
Moses saw it right away
He prayed that God’s judgment would stop
God in his mercy relented or they would have all been wiped out
The fire died down and many were spared from immediate death
But then they started complaining again
Enough of this manna
We want the onions, garlic and fresh vegetables from Egypt
Eventually the leader Moses was wore out
He could not take it anymore
The Bible says God was angry and Moses spirit was troubled
Do you know why he was troubled?
He was troubled because they rejected God, the word of God, the Spirit of God and then Moses himself
Moses told them the truth, he told them to go into the Promised Land, and they rejected him
They had a complaining, critical and unbelieving spirit
It still happens today
John Bevere in his excellent book ‘The Bait of Satan writes”
In visiting other churches I have witnessed many cases in which pastors grieve over people who have left, whether from the staff or from the congregation. In most instances, those people were upset because truth was preached, and it confronted their lifestyles (and I would add they didn’t like the pastor’s direction for the church). They would then become critical of every aspect of the church and leave.
For pastors to hold onto everyone who comes through their doors, they will eventually have to compromise truth. If you preach the truth, I tell them, your will offend people, and they will be uprooted and leave. Do not grieve over them, but rather continue to feed and nurture the ones God has sent you
As we had our Annual Picnic at Rahill Beach last weekend we noticed that God has sent us an entire new church over the last year
We believe we are preaching the truth and believe the Holy Spirit is leading the direction of this church
Everyone is welcome but the plane has left the tarmac
God called Moses to lead but they said no, we cannot cross the Jordan
No Moses, we don’t have the resources and faith to do that now
So that entire generation except Caleb and Joshua died in the desert
God said they will never enter my rest
Friends, do you know where it started?
With a complaining spirit about the little things in life
So then how do we replace a complaining attitude with a healthy one
1. Call complaining what it is, sin!
Moses was deflated
If your friends and family hear you complaining all the time you will wear them out
Nothing will wear down a marriage faster than a complaining spouse
You didn’t do this
You always, you never (get those words out of your vocabulary)
Complaining is sin
But lets be careful
If the thing is wrong and I express dissatisfaction, that is not sin
If my son leaves his bike in the driveway and I make mention of it that is not sin
If my husband is spending a lot of money on alcohol and I am unhappy about it that is not sin
If my wife is flirting with another man I am not complaining when I say stop it – that is enough
Complaining, however is grumbling about things that are not wrong
Like style of music in a church (PAUSE)
Like when the leaders say it’s time to move – to start a new service – and I complain because I care more about my time than reaching the lost
Like when churches change their name to reach more for Christ – wow don’t touch that sacred cow!
Complaining also involves doing nothing to correct the situation
It is complaining to whine about the medical system, but never pray, write a letter, give a donation
Just do nothing but mumble a lot under my breath
Complaining involves discontentment with circumstances
Today there is a WEBSITE for everything
Here is one I found about
www.complain.org
It says ‘Complain about anything. The whole world is here to listen. Complain about your neighbor. Complain about the airlines. Complain about trains. Complain about noise. About getting ripped off. About potholes. About the police. About the medical system. About work. About your boss. Complain to us or about us. We’ll listen and tell everyone. No exceptions!’
Now we got the idea. Let’s get a Christian only website
There we can complain about everything.
We can complain about the church today
We can complain about the music styles
We can complain about theology
We can complain about pastors today
We can complain about styles of preaching
We can complain about how churches spend money
Is that sick or what?
Are we making the connection?
Those who choose making complaining their lifestyle will spend their lives in the wilderness
Complaining is sin. That is the first thing
2. the second way to turnaround is repent
You say pastor how do I do that?
You get alone with God and you pray this prayer ‘am I a complainer?’ Holy Spirit please show me
I did that and I did not like the answer
Were blind to our own sins
We say things like ‘I just need to get it off my chest’
Let me ask you this ‘what three things in your life would you like to change?’
Are you accepting and thankful or are you resisting and complaining
Imagine if God whispered into your ear right now ‘yes I have heard you. I heard everything you said. Would that change you?’
If my heart is like a wilderness sinful attitudes have crept in
Are we even willing to repent?
Am I willing to say, that is me O God. I am that complainer. That is good news when you start there
Because I know a savior, Jesus who has wide open arms to forgive
His death provided a way for you and me, we need only repent
That just means to agree with God about our complaining spirit and ask Jesus to forgive
And you know what – he will – he has promised
3. Replace a complaining attitude with a thankful attitude
Say it in a sentence: ‘Thankfulness is the attitude that perfectly displaces my sinful tendency to complain and thereby releases joy and blessings into my life’
Do you know the story of Jesus and the healing of the ten lepers?
Luke 17:11-19 (NIV) This story is nothing new. Mankind has been sinful since the fall.
Were all complainers and need healing.
Jesus says ten got healed. The nine Jews who should have known better never said thanks. The one Samaritan who the Jews despised, those despicable Samaritans, he came back to say thanks.
Jesus simply said your faith has made you well. He is not talking about healing from leprosy. All ten were physically healed. He is talking about healing from an ungrateful spirit
And as James MacDonald says in his book ‘Only when we acknowledge God as the gracious provider do we comprehend our need for God and begin to express faith in Him.
Conclusion
Let me conclude with this true story. I have a friend who is now sixty years old. She is one of the most giving people I ever met in my life. When she was about 25 she was married with two little boys, about 4 and 2 at the time. One day right out of the blue her husband came home and said I am leaving you for a Japanese woman. That day he walked clear out of her life.
Her attitude was ‘God is so good.’ I have so many things to be thankful for. God has given me more time to serve Him. Serve him she did.’
She poured her life and times into children’s ministry. One of the best, most enthusiastic children’s workers I ever saw.
My children still think of her as Auntie Annette. One time I looked and she had hundreds of kids coming from broken homes all around Calgary. Sent kids to Christian camps that would have never got there.
One day along the journey her oldest son, then about 14 heard a message about the hope of the gospel. He believed it; after all, he had seen it lived out in his mother’s life
The last time I saw him he was teaching Bible college courses to hundreds of students, preparing them for ministries all over the world.
The other son also heard a message. That son today is a youth pastor. His love for youth has touched many of them with the good news of Jesus. Today there are entire families who are in church that would have never been there.
The greatest messages they saw and heard were in the life of their mother Annette. She chose to be grateful; after all Jesus gave her eternal life and she thought I can only give back to others.
I tell you she was a very attractive lady – could have had lots of men – but she chose to serve Jesus instead.
I guess she could have spent her life focused on her injustices. That is just what some Christians do.
But she chose to be like the one leper who came back to say thanks. And her life, her boys, and hundred of people will be forever changed for Christ!
So Calvary were left with a choice. Will our lives, will our faith community be known as the house of complaining?
Or will it be known as the house of thanksgiving.
And will we choose to take our lives for ourselves or will we choose to give our lives away
Because as Jim Elliott, a martyred missionary from 1956 said, ‘he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.’
I’ve done my best. The choice is up to you.
