In this post, I am going to go over a big lesson that I learned from the Book of Exodus.
I am currently reading Exodus right now, and I am currently on chapter 17.
Before I start, I want to open up by saying that I am not going to summarize the chapters, because there is a good chance I won’t do it correctly. However, I will go over a painfully valuable lesson that I learned about myself from these first 17 chapters.
What I learned from the Book of Exodus (so far) is that the Israelites complained a lot!! And God still provided for them.
It’s amazing to read that the Israelites were literally able to see miracles performed by God. Miracles that helped them out of their crappy situations, and yet they kept forgetting Him, or doubting Him.
This book shows the great power of God and amazing miracles He performed for His people.
The Israelites were stuck as slaves in Egypt, God allowed them to escape (Exodus 12). The Israelites were being chased, God split the sea (Exodus 14). The Israelites were thirsty, God provided water (Exodus 15 & Exodus 17). The Israelites were hungry, God gave them bread and quail (Exodus 16). I just read about quail and it seems pretty delicious.
The Israelites saw many amazing miracles, yet they complained and didn’t trust God.
While reading this, I was thinking that I wouldn’t act like this if I was there. Especially if I saw the Red Sea get split in half, all to save my life! I would’ve been grateful and I would trust God. I also thought, “Man, if I was Moses, I probably would’ve swung like Mike Tyson on one of these Israelites! These dudes complain way too much!”.
Then I did a little more reflecting and I came to the pathetic and sad realization that I probably complain a thousand times more than the Israelites. The first few chapters that I read so far, helped me to really reflect on my life and realize how much I complain.
As I go into more details about how much of a big, complaining, crybaby I am, let me also tell you a little about myself.
I’m currently a graduate student. I was blessed by God to have the opportunity to pursue a Master’s degree and I was very thankful and happy when I was given this blessing. I now like to complain about it often. I complain about the workload. I complain about the teachers. I complain about receiving a 93% in a class because it shows up as an A- on my report card and not an A.
I have a full-time job that is fun and rewarding. The job also allows me to pay rent, it allows me to pay bills, it allows me to eat food, and it allows me to complain about work in the breakroom with my coworkers (although I can’t let my bosses hear or they might fire me).
I have a kitchen and refrigerator full of food. When I’m hungry, I like to go to my refrigerator and open it up and stare at all the food and complain about not having any food.
I have a coworker that buys me Starbucks often, all from the kindness of her heart, and she always forgets to replace the milk in my latte with oat milk and instead she replaces it with almond milk or soy milk. It’s as if she’s trying to get on my nerves. I take it a step further than complain about this one. I’ll ask my coworker, “Did you get it right this time?”, as she hands me the beverage that she didn’t need to buy me.
Exodus has been a great reminder to change my way of thinking. God has poured so many blessings on my life and I have so much to be thankful for. The Israelites complained a lot, but they were in situations that are far worse than mine. Not only do I have freedom, I’m blessed to have a job, I’m blessed to be in school, and I’m blessed to have food to eat whenever I want. Despite all this, I still find reasons to be a crybaby. This was a great reminder to always remember to be thankful. This was a great reminder that God always provides. This was a great reminder to always repent and ask for forgiveness. Most importantly, this was a great reminder that God truly loves me. Despite my sins of complaining, God loves me so much that He sent His son to die on the cross for this sin of complaining, and the millions of other sins that I commit daily. He chose me to be a child of God.
If you are also a complainer like me, I hope this post will remind you of all the blessings in your life. I ask that you sit and reflect on all the blessings in your life and thank God for them.
Also, check out the book of Exodus.
Peace!