I write this in the deep midwinter. University colleagues are marking endless assessments, students preparing for yet more. Lawyers around the country will be facing their own stresses, pressures and frustrations at work and home.
How do we respond?
In the book of Exodus, the Israelites grumble against Moses and Aaron: “We have no water,” “no pots of beef,” “we wish we were still slaves in Egypt,” “we wish we were dead.”
Although Moses and Aaron were on the receiving end, they knew that the Israelites were not ‘grumbling against [them], but against the LORD’.
These were those who had just seen God part the waves, destroy the most powerful man on the earth and rescue them from cruel slavery.
We might be amazed by their faithlessness, but is our context different? Hasn’t Jesus’ act of salvation forgiven our sins, saved us from eternal torment and given us everlasting joy in His presence?
Our grumbling is ultimately against God, who in all things works for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). He warns us not to grumble against one another (James 5:9).
Instead, let us remember daily, all He has done for us, turn our worries over to Him in prayer and be thankful.
Prayer points
• Give thanks for all the blessings God has poured on us, especially in the saving work of Jesus by His death and resurrection.
• Turn our worries and concerns to Him in prayer, perhaps using the prayers God graciously gives us in the Psalms.
• Determine not to grumble, but to reflect the light of Christ back to others as we go through life’s very real challenges.
