Gripe Sessions OR Growth Seasons?

Introduction

"The Teacup Story"

Imagine a beautiful teacup, delicate and finely crafted, sitting on a shelf in a china shop. One day, the teacup begins to speak about its life story:

"There was a time when I was just a lump of clay. My master took me and rolled me, pounded and patted me over and over. I yelled out, 'Don't do that! I don't like it! Let me alone!' But he only smiled and gently said, 'Not yet.'

Then, WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and spun around and around and around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy! I'm going to be sick!' I screamed. But the master only nodded and said quietly, 'Not yet.'

He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself. Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat! I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. 'Help! Get me out of here!' I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, 'Not yet.'

When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better,' I said. But then he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'

Then suddenly he put me back in the oven. Not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged, I pleaded, I screamed, I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening, nodding his head, saying, 'Not yet.'

Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, 'Look at yourself.' And I did. I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!'

'I want you to remember,' then he said, 'I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but if I had left you, you would have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.'"

We will learn today in our continued study of Exodus that Israel which represents our own spiritual pilgrimage, experienced times of feel pressed, heated, and uncomfortable with the situations they find themselves in.

Similarly, our natural inclination is to gripe or complain about conditions we find ourselves in. Today, we will be reminded that God uses times as such to mold us and grow us in His image. Times of aggravation and struggle are growing seasons in our journey of sanctification. We will learn today that these growth seasons are faith seasons of deepening our trust in the Lord to see us through. Amen?

Turn in your Bibles this morning to Exodus 16:1-12 will be our focal passage and we will look at the entire 16th chapter as background to our text this morning.

Exodus 16:1-12

Exodus 16:1–12 NKJV

1 And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. 2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. 5 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He hears your complaints against the Lord. But what are we, that you complain against us?” 8 Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.” 9 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your complaints.’ ” 10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”

Prayer

Message

The Israelites had traveled under the leadership of Moses and Aaron for thirty days since freedom from the Egyptians after the miraculous act of crossing the Red Sea. You will remember our last time together studying Exodus in Exodus 15:22-27 after only three days of crossing the Red Sea that the Israelites complained as they went out from the Wilderness of Shur over the water conditions. They came across water but the water was bitter. And so, at this juncture a pattern is being formed; impatience and complaining begins. Scripture states in verse 24 that “they complained against Moses, “what shall we drink?” As Scripture reflects, Moses cried out to the Lord and the Bible states that the Lord showed Moses a tree. And I quote:

“When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.”

Oh aren’t you thankful for the tree represented in Jesus Christ? The staff of Moses represented the power of God at work among His people. And, this tree God used to sweeten the water represented the touch of the Master’s hand in a needy situation. Oh dear brothers and sisters, the cross represents the tree God’s Son died upon to bring life to you and me. Amen.

On that occasion the scene was a test and we realize from the statement the Lord made in v. 26 that our gift of salvation is free and cost us nothing, but to grow as a disciple of Christ comes with a price.

Matthew 16:24–25 “24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Dearly beloved, consider this: Every relationship you are involved that is genuine and healthy, that is thriving come with conditions to maintain and grow the relationship. Marriage is a gift of the Lord, it s called a holy matrimony, but it comes with parameters, unwritten rules and responsibilities. Parenting is a great gift of the Lord, but with great reward comes great responsibility. Our livelihoods comes with the great privilege of employment and benefit, but it comes with sweat equity and sacrifice. And yes, the church was instituted of God for the NT Christians’ growth, but to enjoy its benefits it comes with the giving of yourself, your time, your talent and your resources. Every relationship you have and you enjoy comes with conditions to maintain, grow and strengthen the relationship.

Exodus 15:26 “26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.””

This is the reminder that our life in Christ once saved, for our relationships to deepen in Christ there must be some conditions to follow. “For I am the Lord who heals you.” God was teaching Israel to trust and He is the God who will heal their past, but it started with trust. Speaking of trust, with just a little patience, look what was ahead of them:

Exodus 15:27 “27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.”

The Lord had literally provided an oasis as we know it in the desert to bring refreshment and nourishment to the people of Israel.

A Gripe Session VV. 1-3

Ill. Teaching a child to jump to you that cannot swim

Twenty seven days later is where we find ourselves in today’s study. They, the Israelites had journeyed to the wilderness of Sin which is between Elim and Mt. Sinai. And exactly twenty seven days later they continue the broken record pattern of griping about the conditions regarding the food supply.

A pattern has emerged.

Exodus 14:11 “11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?”

Exodus 15:24 “24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?””

And here in verse 3:

Exodus 16:3 “3 And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.””

And let’s admit it, food is a bid deal. Mrs. Betty stated about herself and Mr. Fred that Fred ate to live and she lived to eat. I am more in Mrs. Betty’s camp. Now what is interesting, my grand kids, especially the youngest will let you know quickly when they are hungry and they will show it. Our grandson Hammie, we call “hangry” when he gets hungry and you can figure out why. The truth is that patience is a virtue taught us by the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:22–23“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering or patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

James 1:2–3 “2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”

When we combine the teachings on patience from Galatians and James we realize that patience is a gift of the Holy Spirit, but its through the life lessons that we learn patience by trusting in the Holy Spirit’s engagement in our lives.

The Israelites were continually being tested to grow their trust of the Lord.

Exodus 16:4 “4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.”

There are several considerations we need to reflect on when we get into that space of griping.

Who are we affecting with our attitudes?

Notice that all the congregation of Israel were together. When we get into a negative griping mood, we must ask the question, “who am I bringing down with my negativity? Who am I teaching to lack trust in the Lord when I show insecurity and complain in this life?”

Look at verse 8 with me for a moment:

Exodus 16:8 (NKJV)

8 Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the Lord hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the Lord.”

Is that not correct? Moses was saying to the Israelites. You are not complaining to me and Aaron. You are complaining about the Lord.

Beyond the fact the Bible just stated it in our study. If we say that we trust the Lord in totality with the whole of our lives and we begin to complain about something that is not going right in life; are we not saying to the Lord you are not to be trusted with every dimension of my life? What does that teach our loved ones, our friends that we are trying to influence in the things of God and our church family about the depth of our faith in the Lord?

Complaining is Cancerous-it brings others down around us.

Complaining becomes chronic-it becomes a pattern and a way of life and a sad life to live.

Complaining

לִין lîyn, leen; to stop (usually over night); by impl. to stay permanently; hence (in a bad sense) to be obstinate (espec. in words, to complain):—abide (all night), continue, dwell, endure, grudge, be left, lie all night, (cause to) lodge (all night, in, -ing, this night), (make to) murmur, remain, tarry (all night, that night)

Complaining becomes a stop gap in life. And, it becomes comfortable. It becomes homey and we find ourselves residing there and whether we mean to, we invite others to reside with us.

Complaining externalizes your struggles. What do we do instead? Combat your complaints by praying to the Lord for answers.

What should Israel done rather than complain? Communicate with the Lord. They could only see the food need rather than the fact they were no longer forced labor, they were enslaved and dealing with back breaking work.

Lord, help me to see all the good you are doing rather than focus in on one or two bad situations. Lord, help me to see the cup half full rather than half empty.

God’s Gracious Supply VV. 4-5

Exodus 16:4–5 “4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. 5 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.””

Notice that in this particular text we do not see recorded that Moses cried out to the Lord over the matter like he had in prior scriptures. I can only assume that he did because that was Moses pattern. He carried his problems to the Lord as recorded in scripture. But let’s assume he didn’t in this case. Notice that the moment the situation came about that God already had a plan in the balance waiting to execute. Oh dear church please realize that most of the struggles we have the Lord is already aware of and working His divine plan for your good.

The Lord was going to provide and provide bountifully but it came with stipulations. He placed some conditions with His blessings.

Look closely at verse 4 with me:

Exodus 16:4 (NKJV)

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.

God blesses us and offers us benefits, but there are some be attitudes and some things we are to be in control over

Take some time to read this afternoon, but when you read the entire chapter, each morning there would dew on the ground. Once the dew dried, scripture states a a frost like substance was the ground that was like white coriander seed. They could bake it and it would taste like wafers with honey. As Conni Sikes states, “Oh my stars” that sounds so good.

Oh Israel, can’t you hear the Lord Himself speaking. Oh bless you, I am going to bless you, Oh I love you and I want to bless you but you must have some controls on the blessings or either you will worship the blessings rather than the One who gives the blessing. Why do you think the Lord mandated constraints on the people over the blessing of the manna?

Exodus 16:16 “16 This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ””

Later in the last verse of the chapter, the Bible states:

“Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.” The Bible used the word-quota, portion, an omer and an ephah.

What is God saying to us today with all of these details of a certain quota?

Life is about proportion and balance. We need to keep His blessings in our life in proportion.

Have you heard the saying that “too much of a good thing is not a good thing.”

John 6:31–35 NKJV

31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” 35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

Psalm 78:23–25 “23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven, 24 Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven. 25 Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full.”

The Lord knows we need blessing, we need, the gifts this life offers to nourish us and rejuvenate us. It is angel food. The Lord knows when we need it. But when the creation consumes us and we hoard that gift over the Creator, we have become disproportioned.

Think about your life as a balancing act or scales. Is there a portion of your life that is out of balance giving too much time to something, too much money to something that is in excess? Do you realize that food and exercise can become a god if it becomes an overly focused item in your life? Work can become a god if you can not keep it in balance. And yes, even family can become too consuming if it usurps the importance of your relationship with the Lord.

Paul writes to the church at Corinth:

1 Corinthians 10:1–5 (NKJV)

1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Have you seen the great scenes in the movies of a husband/wife or what once was a deeply romantic relationship and there is some body language, there is an unspoken word or a nod cast downward, or broken words offered that reflects you are here with me in body, but you are not here in spirit. There is usually a scene of that nature before the big break up. Your heart is not with me. Your mind is somewhere else. You are out of proportion. You are scattered. Something is pulling you away.

Let me ask you to take an inventory this morning. Is there something in your life that is more important than Jesus Christ and Him crucified for you? Everyone here this morning would say an emphatic no. But I ask you as the Bible states:

For where a man’s treasure is, there will his heart be also. What consumes you? What fills your calendar? What consumes your financial resources? Those are good starting points to knowing possibly where life is out of proportion. Your calendar and your checking account is the best audit of where your life is proportioned.

Matthew 6:24 “24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

God’s Goal: A Growing Season VV. 6-12

Exodus 16:6–7 “6 Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord;

The Lord was going to bless His people and bless His people He did even in spite of their rebelliousness. Aren’t you thankful that God has never quit loving you and blessing you in spite of your rebelliousness?

What is the other way we can replace complaining? Moses and Aaron’s words gives the answer to replacing our hearts with celebration.

Celebration

In the morning as you look out at dawn and you are drinking your coffee before you hit the ground-look out at the Manna-the bread of life and begin to see the glory of God in your life as I have breathed life into you this day and first thing in the morning, I have provided sustenance for daily living.

Oh dear church, beyond the daily sustenance God has provided you in a morning meal, take in His daily sustenance for the day through the Word and in prayer.

As you are sitting around the fire that evening and you are eating that last bite of that pecan honey glazed quail and you are licking your fingers, remember who saved you and brought you out of Egypt.

Lamentations 3:22–23 “22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

Psalm 68:19 “19 Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah”

Psalm 145:15–16 “15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. 16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.”

I want to close with verse 15. Look at it with me.

Exodus 16:15 “15 So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.”

God was going to bless them with daily provision for sustenance of life for the next forty years until they would come to the Promised land, Caanan. Canaan would be a greater blessing, the land of milk and honey. Yet, they did not know the blessing staring them in the face. This manna was a precursor as to what was to come in the promised land for the Israelites. This manna was a precursor to our Lord and Savior who came called the Bread of Life.

In Verse 15, the Israelites initially did not know what the blessing was.

Dearly beloved, life is full of change. Change can be uncomfortable. You may be experiencing a change right now and you are handling it bulking and screaming-Griping and Complaining.

How should you respond? Start by being patient and seeing what it is God is doing in your life. You may be experiencing His greatest blessing ever and haven’t given time to realize it.

Ill. Marge Suhr

This morning as you got out of bed and someone invited you here or you fought on to get out of bed, you were griping and complaining the whole way. With a little patience and trust in God, today might be manna for you. You sense God is calling you to change some of your portion control and give more time to the Lord. If you never have trusted in His manna. Oh dearly beloved, He is the bread of life and He will satisfy every hunger you have.

Let’s pray.