Those Unthankful Jews

I have spent many a Sunday school class condemning the ungrateful Israelites for grumbling in the desert after leaving Egypt. But let's be real- I know few people that can go more than four hours without complaining about being hungry, tired, or hot, much less forty years in a desert. Can you imagine all these people walking across the desert, leaving everything they knew, going to a place they did not know, and unsure of whether they and their children would even survive the journey? From the perspective of most, it seems like they have at least some right to complain. As I read about their journey I think, "God, can't you cut your chosen people a little slack? I mean, they've already been enslaved for qute a few years now and they're wandering in a desert. What on earth are you doing?" Luckily, God tells us exactly what he's doing in Deuteronomy 8.

"And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years, Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you."

God knew exactly what he was doing with the Israelites in the wilderness and he knows what he's doing in our lives today. We may struggle and complain and feel that we've got a better idea, but God's always got a master scheme to make us more like Him, draw us closer to him, and ultimately glorify his name throughout his creation. He wants us to rely on him when we face trials so that we may understand that we do not need the things of this world, but we need only our Holy Father to lead us wherever he wants to take us. But even in those hard times we need to remember his infinite blessings, like the food, clothing, and health he gave to the Israelites. God is always in control, he always knows what he's doing, and he never leaves us to fend for ourselves. We need not fear nor complain because God is with us to lead us through trials so that our faith may be strengthened and we may be blessed with the ability to glorify him.