Manipulation By Complaint

“When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:” (Ps 95:9-10 AV)

 

A thought occurred as I was reading this psalm.  The psalm is written as a reflection of Israel’s journey through the wilderness.  For the most part, the issue of murmuring and complaining is the issue of the psalm.  Israel’s behavior is compared against God’s grace.  The thought that stuck in my head was the first part of our passage above.  A question entered my mind.  Was the proving and tempting which the people of God expressed manifested by their murmuring and complaining.  Is the habit of complaining the same as testing God to see if He is what He claims to be?  Is murmuring a subtle way of motivating God to do what we think He should do?  Is complaining a way of testing God’s love for us?  Is murmuring a way of wearing down the divine resolve to manipulate and outcome we desire?  If so, I completely understand why God hates murmuring and complaining.

When it comes to murmuring as a technique for manipulation, a child comes to mind.  They are professionals!  It doesn’t matter what the object. If they do not like what they have, complaining about it might bring change.  My parents did not tolerate complaining one bit.  If we complained about anything, it was taken away and nothing was given as a replacement.  For instance, if we complained about the meal my mother fixed, our plate would be removed and we went hungry.  There were a few things my mother made that did not make it on the favorites list.  Salmon patties were one of them.  Growing up catholic, Friday nights during lent meant fish.  She made the most awesome tuna casserole.  I think the recipe is safeguarded in the national vaults.  We also had fish sticks when they came out.  However, because my father liked salmon patties, every now and again they would grace the table.  The problem with salmon patties is I don’t think the next county over should be able to smell what you are having for dinner.  There is no masking that smell!  Salmon patties are strong!  They could wake Lazarus from the tombs!  Yet, if we complained about it, no dessert that night and we went to bed hungry.  Crying and whining about anything my parents provided often met with a spanking and going without.  Our murmuring never resulted in change.

If the assertion above is right, then when we complain we are acting like little children who are trying to manipulate the actions of God.  No wonder He lost patience with them from time to time.  We need to grow up!  God is a great God who loves us more than we could ever begin to understand.  He has provided His best for us.  He has given us what we need to grow up into the saint He desires us to be.  And the saint which he desires us to be is the saint that will experience life to the fullest.  He does not give us evil gifts.  He gives us good gifts.  We complain about life when life is what we have made it.  We fight against God because we think we know what will make us happy.  Just like a child who is refused what he thinks will make him happy only to discover what dad had for him all along, the saint tests the resolve of God.  Yet, God loves us enough to hold back that which is not in our best interest despite the complaining and provides His best for us.  So, we need to stop complaining and express our gratitude for how good God is to us!  We need to stop looking at what we do not have and appreciate what God has done.  We need to stop proving God and treating him like a child does his parent.  We need to stop thinking so little of God that we think He can be manipulated into doing for us what we want instead of what is best for us.