PROBLEMS ARE DESIGNED TO TEST YOUR
FAITH
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-23
BLESSED
WITH COWS BUT COMPLAINING ABOUT BEEF
V:4 The
rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started
wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we
ate in Egypt at no cost — also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and
garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this
manna!"
A. God graciously supplied all the manna
that the Israelites and the non-Israelites who came out of Egypt could eat each
day.
1. They were free physically, with a
slave mentality.
2. They had plenty of livestock to kill
for meat that God provided when they came out of Egypt.
3. It was not the meat they were
complaining about.
4. It was the over-exaggeration of the
life and provisions they had in Egypt as slaves that they
Craved.
5. They couldn’t go forward with God in
freedom for looking back at their life of sin in slavery.
B. When we complain, we minimize the blessings
that God has bestowed upon us.
1. When we complain about what we have,
we are telling God that what He provided is not
Good enough.
2. Our complaints blind us to the
blessings of God.
3. Our complaints stir up complaints in
others.
4. Notice the complaints about manna
started with those who did not know God.
5. Complaints quickly spread to those
who had a relationship with God.
6. There may be greener grass in your
neighbor’s yard, but you were blessed with what’s in
Your yard which you must
cultivate.
C. When we complain we lie to ourselves
about what we have and the need to have more.
1. The fish, vegetables, and fruits they
claim was free was at the cost of hard labor
And harsh treatment in
slavery.
2. God treats us with love and compassion.
Man treats us with hatred and uses us
For their benefit.
IT’S NOT
ABOUT YOU, IT'S ABOUT THE GLORY OF GOD
V:10 Moses
heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. The
Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the Lord,
"Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to
displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I
conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry
them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath
to their forefathers?
A. Your constant complaining wears down
those who God has placed in charge.
1. Parents are burdened when a child has
been given everything but complains
Because he/she does not
have what other children have.
2. Moses was stressed out and burnt out with
the constant complaints of the people.
3. Moses began to complain to God about
the ungrateful people he oversaw.
4. He was at the point that he wanted to
die to be relieved of the pressure.
B. Moses got so bogged down in his
circumstances that he didn’t seek God’s strength.
1. Moses couldn’t see the successes of
the mission for the problems he was facing.
a. Moses didn’t get the nation out of
Egypt without complaints.
b. They would not get to the promised
land without complaints.
2. Leaders are blessed with the complaints
of the people.
3. Complaints of others don’t mean that
God is not satisfied you.
It is because you are
doing something that people complain.
4. Those who complain most often don’t
see the full picture.
5. Complaints should draw leaders closer
to God for His guidance.
C. Moses complained to God because He
lost sight of the promised land.
1. The problem with leadership is
people.
2. People come with complaints. Sometimes
the source of our complaints is a
Baby attitude.
3. Babies want their way. You have to drag
babies with their complaints to God’s way
4. Moses's job in the desert was to get
the people with all their complaints ready for the promised land.
D. Moses wanted to give up under the
pressure of the complaints of the baby nation.
1. When you lose sight of the fact that
God is your strength, you are burdened,
2. O what peace we often forfeit all
because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
3. Do your job and let God handle the
complaints.
IT’S A
PROBLEM, TRUST GOD
V:13 Where
can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, 'Give us meat to
eat!' 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for
me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now — if
I have found favor in your eyes — and do not let me face my own ruin."
A. Moses may have thought the problem
with the people was his
1. Moses used “I” three times as if it
was all about him.
2. When God has a job for you to do, it is
not about you, but His divine plan.
3. The people in the desert belong to
the Lord.
4. The problems with the people belong
to the Lord.
5. Providing for the people was the
Lord’s job.
6. We must learn to trust God with the
problem and allow Him to guide us.
B. Never blame God for the problems
people cause.
1. Never think you have lost God’s favor
because you have problems.
2. Listen to the complaints of others
and comfort them in their complaints.
a. You could say, I hear your
complaints, what do you suggest we do?
b. People who complain, often have no
suggestion for improvement.
3. Trust God to handle what is out of
your control.
4. We gain faith in the Lord when we see
how He handles complaints.
WAIT ON
THE LORDS HELP
V:16 The
Lord said to Moses: "Bring me seventy of Israel's elders who are known to
you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the Tent of
Meeting, that they may stand there with you. 17 I will come down and speak with
you there, and I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on
them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not
have to carry it alone.
A. God put people in place to help us.
We must open our ears and listen.
1. Jethro, Moses’s father in law gave
him advice on handling the nation earlier.
Exodus 18:17-18
Moses' father-in-law
replied, "What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come
to you will only wear yourselves out.
Exodus 18:24-27
Moses listened to his father-in-law and did
everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them
leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26
They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they
brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.
A. Moses had an organized governing body
to judge the people.
1. Why Moses didn’t make us of His organization,
God does not tell us.
2. Moses could have easily instructed
the leaders to handle most complaints and relay the rest to Him.
a. Moses could have trained the leaders
to promote God’s plan to get the Nation to the promised land.
3. We must learn to utilize the means
God has given us before we complain.
4. If God has given us all ingredients
to make bread, we shouldn’t complain
Because we don’t have baked
bread.
B. God ordained the same organization to
handle the complaints of the people.
1. Moses was correct to go to God, but
he should have gone in prayer without
Complaining.
2. Moses missed his opportunity to give
God praise for what He had already done.
3. The object of our complaints is usually
something God has blessed us with.
4. We should ask God to help us use what
He has given us to handle our problems.
God don’t move the
mountain, just help me climb it.
BE
CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR
V:18
"Tell the people: 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when
you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, "If only we had
meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!" Now the Lord will give you
meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two
days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month — until it comes
out of your nostrils and you loathe it — because you have rejected the Lord,
who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever
leave Egypt?"
A. As usual, when God spoke to His
people they were to wash and repent of their sin before He came into their
presence.
1. The complaints of the people and
Moses showed a lack of faith in God’s ability to provide.
2. They had more faith in their time of
slavery in Egypt than they had in the God who freed them.
3. They witness the power of God to
bring them out of slavery but wanted to give up their freedom and return to
Egypt because the desert was not their paradise.
a. You don’t get to paradise without
going through the desert.
4. This mindset angered the God of their
salvation.
B. Because the people were ungrateful
for God’s provisions, He would provide so much meat
Doing the coming month that they would hate they complained.
1. God has a way of making us understand
the foolishness of our complaints.
2. Each tribe came out of Egypt with
enough livestock to provide meat.
3. They lack the faith that God gave
them the livestock and He could multiply what
4. They had to continue to provide for
their needs.
5. Complaints are a way of rejecting God’s
control.
6.
BELIEVE;
NOTHING TOO HARD FOR GOD
V:21 But
Moses said, "Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you
say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!' 22 Would they have
enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if
all the fish in the sea were caught for them?"
A. As leaders of our households, we should
have faith in God’s provisions.
1. Moses missed the mark again because
he thought God was telling him to provide meat for
The nation of over two
million people.
2. Moses looked at the task as too big
for God to use him to provide meat.
B. When we are stuck on ourselves, we
can’t see the unlimited power and resources of God.
1. If we put our minds in gear before we
open our mouths, we would see that it was God that provided manna from heaven each
day for the nation.
2. If God provided manna. Why would he
not be able to provide meat?
3. If God provided water in the desert
for the nation, why would He not be able
To provide everything
they needed or wanted.
4. When you face difficulties in life,
don’t look at what you can do but what God has already
Done.
SEE THE
GLORY OF THE LORD
V:23 The
Lord answered Moses, "Is the Lord's arm too short? You will now see
whether or not what I say will come true for you."
A. When we have our heads stuck in the
sand, we need to be reminded of the unlimited power of God.
1. We ought to be reminded of the unlimited
power of God each day when we look at what He consistently does daily to provide
for us.
2. We know the science behind the rain. But
can we make a drop of water?
3. We know the science behind the sun,
but can we duplicate its existence.
B. We know all the parts of the human
body. But can we duplicate any part of it in
Its original form.
1. The body has 1.5 gallons of blood. We
can we make one drop of blood?
2. God’s power and authority are
unlimited.
3. The power of God is activated in our
lives through faith.
4. I can do all thing through Christ who
strengthens me.
5. The problems we face are the
opportunities to test God’s Word.
In Malachi 3, God said
test me in this and see if will not provide a blessing you won't have room
enough to hold.
BELIEVE IN THE POWER
OF GOD BEFORE COMPLAINING
Rev. M.
Mitchell
Asst
Pastor of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church
5510 West
Sam Houston Parkway North
Houston,
Texas 77041
NIV
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