JUST BLOWING OFF STEAM

1 Cor. 10:1-12
Are you in the habit of thanking God for only what you want? In the
habit of grumbling a little when things don’t go the way YOU like them?
So what’s wrong with a little grumbling? What difference does it
make? All the difference in the world!

Marriages usually don’t break up over a big thing, but over little
things. I fixed a lot of flats in my day. Most caused by a little ole
mesquite thorn. A mechanic’s mistake can bring down a jet. A
misunderstanding can start a war.

Little things mean a lot. That’s where we have to live. It’s the little
things that make the breakfast table peaceful or a war zone.
Grumbling comes so easy that we don’t even realize we’re doing it.
What’s so important or life threating about having a burnt piece of
toast? Why should that wreck our day? Throw it away and fix
another… takes about 30 seconds!

What we’re really saying when we grumble and complain is that we
think God is mismanaging our day. God’s deliverance of his people out
of Egypt and through the Red Sea was incredible and awesome. But
they still didn’t trust God. They complained and grumbled. Lack of
water — lack of food — didn’t like the way the water tasted — tired of
the manna.

That’s when God said meat? You want meat? I got your meat! I’m
gonna give it to you till it comes out your nose!
40 years — to go 200 miles. Why? They wouldn’t trust God. Can
a slug go 2 feet in one hour? Would have only taken a slug about 50
years to get there, but petty complaining kept the Israelites out of the
promised land.

Christian, our complaints and murmurings against God in the little
things can keep us from entering into the perfect plan He has for our
lives, too.

Bottom line… the attitude of praise releases the power of God in our
lives and the attitude of murmuring and complaining blocks that power.
1 Cor. 10:10 & 31.

Pastor Bret