COMPLAINT BRINGS BLASPHEMY; PRAYER BRINGS HEALING
“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”
After hearing one of Jesus’s sermons, some people in the crowd began grumbling and complaining because they found it a hard teaching (John 6). They ended up turning away; no longer following Him. They could not believe what Jesus was saying, that He was sent from Heaven, for they knew his mother and father. Jesus was also preaching that He was the bread of life and that the only way for us to have life is to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Now, of course we know this to be a metaphor; He doesn’t literally mean to become cannibals, but rather to consume His Holy Spirit.
The disciples that walked away chose to complain and leave, instead of choosing to pray about the words Jesus was saying. Had they prayed — seeking understanding — they would have received the wisdom to walk in step with the Lord.
Sometimes we too, are like those disciples who left Jesus. We, too, like to complain, instead of dropping to our knees, bowing our heads, and seeking the Lord’s will and wisdom.
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Numbers 21:4-9 recalls the journey of the Israelites being led out of Egypt. They were becoming impatient and angry that they were being led into the wilderness with horrible food and no water. They believed their lives as slaves in Egypt were better than taking this journey to their promised land. They became so upset that they spoke against God and against Moses and so the Lord sent venomous snakes among them and many of the Israelites died.
The people quickly realized they had sinned and begged Moses to pray to the Lord on their behalf: that the snakes be taken away.
So Moses prayed. The Lord answered back, telling him to make a snake and put it on a pole, so that whenever an Israelite gets bit, they need only to look at the snake and live.
This story provides us with two lessons:
1. Getting ourselves stuck in a state of complaint, can bring us as far as blaspheming God.
When we get stuck in a state of complaining, we become so bitter and stuck in our own misery, that we fail to see the good that has happened and is happening. We blame God for our misery; we blaspheme His goodness because we dislike our circumstances. We turn Him into the enemy in our minds. Which is unfortunate, because God is in fact not our enemy. Though our circumstances may seem unbearable at times, those situations are God-given for a reason. Usually, it’s to help us grow and change to be more eternally driven. God wants us to see the good and the beauty of the middle of our journey.
The Israelites blasphemed God for their discomfort, rather than praising Him for their safe and protected travel, their freedom from the Egyptians, and the beautiful land they got to travel on their journey to their promised land. Their complaining caused them to miss so much joy and gratitude. And just like the Israelites, we too, will miss the beauty of our travels if we choose to complain rather than offering praise and gratitude to the Lord.
2. The prayer of a righteous person can bring healing to the unrighteous.
After the attack of the venomous snakes and many deaths that occurred, the people realized they had sinned against God. They knew that the only way to bring healing to their people was through the prayer of Moses (the righteous man in God’s eyes). The people asked Moses to pray for them and so he did. The Lord knew the intent of Moses’ heart, and thus gave him a solution to help heal the Israelites.
In the time of Moses, God’s people were able to be seen as ‘righteous.’ But then Jesus came and now He is the only one who is righteous in God’s eyes. Thus, any prayer that is prayed in the name of Jesus Christ, will be heard by God. And through our faith and repentance (for even the Israelites repented) we will be healed.
“Prayer – an expression meant to become as natural as breathing.”
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