Oscar the Grouch

Oscar the Grouch.. No one really wanted to be around him.  Big Bird was as happy as could be, and I'm pretty sure he would try to avoid Oscar, if he didn't consider him a friend. I feel like I've been Oscar lately. Yuck.  Which leads me to the post for today...

Grumbling. I think if there is something to grumble about we can find it; I can find it. We don't have to look hard to find something that we don't like, and then voice our opinion like it really matters. We may not look we are wearing or what someone else is wearing or how they are driving or how this is done or why that isn't done the way we think is best. We can easily find people in our lives that we can find fault in also, which leads to.. you guessed it, a complaint! I have caught myself lately and just realized how much I really do grumble and complain. But what kind of peace does that leave in our lives? What kind of peace does that show to the word when we have Christ in our lives!

This morning I was reading my devotion and was just overcome by the sin in my life of complaining and grumbling. My day would be so much better, if I wouldn't focus on the negative things that I didn't like and praised God for the wonderful things He was doing in my life! Of course when I got to work and started reading through the Psalms [This is where I am in reading the Bible alllll the way through <smile>] But I was on Psalm 78, and this particular Psalm was about the complaints of the Israelites as the Lord was leading them out of Egypt through the assistance of Moses and Aaron. Think about their complaints - water, protection, comfort, food, meat.. I'm pretty sure the list could've and probably did go on further.  These were just the few that we heard about. This is what the Psalmist said in remembering that time:

13 He divided the sea and led them through;
    he made the water stand up like a wall.
¹⁴ He guided them with the cloud by day
    and with light from the fire all night.
¹⁵ He split the rocks in the wilderness
    and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶ he brought streams out of a rocky crag
    and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷ But they continued to sin against him,
    rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
¹⁸ They willfully put God to the test
    by demanding the food they craved.

They demanded all those things. God stil provided for them. And they still sinned. We could very easily put ourselves in this Psalm.  I think about all the wonderful things God has done in my life and how I still manage to complain. I think about the people around me that He has placed in my life to minister to, and I still complain. I think about the nice roof over my head, and I still grumble. But the Lord is good - because He reminds me of what He has done for me - and the grumbling begins to fade in light of the deliverance we have been given in Christ.  The end of Psalm 78 reminds us that God CHOSE the tribe of Judah, just like He chose me. And He loves me still, despite my discontent heart at times. I feel sure and know that during those times of grumbling, He is drawing us closer to Himself -- to be content in Him alone; to know of His provision; to know of His faithfulness.