The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Exodus 16:11-18, “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
12 ‘I have heard the grumblings of the sons 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.”’”
13 So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.
14 When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground.
15 When the sons 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, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
16 “This is what the LORD has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.'”
17 The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little.
18 When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat.”

What do you say when you hear someone grumble? Possibly, nothing (if you’re wise). Grumbling seems to be natural for some of us. Make that “most of us!” There are numerous things that produce grumbling: one of them concerns having to wait to be served in a restaurant. Another is just missing an airplane!

I was in Denver, en route to LA for a flight to Sydney. It was a confusing time. I was in the back of a line, realizing that my flight was nearing take-off. I’d never done this before, but I shot to the front of the line, ignoring those ahead of me and said to the Agent, “I’ve got to get on that flight to LA!” She looked at me and pointed out the window. “That, sir, is your flight – taking off just now!” I grumbled, but to no value. I had simply missed the flight.

After I settled down, I approached another Agent, who put me on another flight that would, she said, get me to LA and the flight to Sydney. Yet, while I was speaking to the Agent, a GI nearby grumbled quite loudly and provocatively saying, “A guy fights for his country and gets home and receives this kind of treatment. Why were we there?” As he grumbled, I turned to him and said, “You’ve got no right to grumble! You came back!”

Say what we will, nothing gives us the right to grumble. It was true of Israel, too! The LORD was the True Leader, and the people agreed to follow him out of Egypt to a Promised Land! So, they had no food? Did grumbling get them the food? No, the food was provided by the LORD. What’s more, they were given an abundance of food –not because they grumbled, but because the LORD heard their cry and provided their needs.

We can cry to the LORD without grumbling. Grumbling (as pictured in the stories above), only negatively affected the grumblers and those about them. Later, while in the air, en route to LA, I discovered that I could alter my flight, so that no time was lost in catching that plane to Sydney. Life is hurried; but hurry is not the answer. Guess Who is!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom