The Cure for Complaining July 13, 2025 • Matthew Spradlin • Exodus 16

Welcome to the Valley Baptist Church Sermon Podcast.

We're so glad you're here, and we hope this message inspires you,

builds your faith, and moves you toward a deep relationship with God.

Today, you'll find great insight into the Bible

and learn how you can apply it straight to your life.

So welcome, and enjoy the message.

I love the book of Exodus as God redeems his people out of the slavery and the bondage of

Egypt and into the goodness and the grace of the promised land. And so we're going to look at the

entire chapter this morning. I want to welcome those who are joining us from Olive Drive. Now, we Americans are a hard people sometimes to satisfy.

We've become accustomed to such a high standard of living

that it can produce unrealistic expectations for life.

And when life is anything less than perfect, sometimes we feel cheated. In Exodus, we find three stories right

in a row of God's people complaining, because unfortunately, sometimes God's people complain.

But thankfully, COVID stopped all complaining among Christians. Isn't that great? Now we're just grateful all of the time

and focus on God's blessing and goodness within our life. Wouldn't that be great?

Now, the truth is here at Valley, we don't get a lot of complaints. And so this message

is primarily directed to us as individuals, because if we're really honest,

we can struggle with complaining within our life. We can even develop a heart or an attitude,

a spirit of complaining. Now, much of our complaining really is an expression of not being thankful for what God has blessed us with.

And so complaining is not a matter of our circumstances. It really is a matter of our

heart. It's a habit of focusing on what is wrong instead of focusing on what God is doing.

Now, when you and I focus on what's wrong, that's pretty depressing and discouraging,

isn't it? But when we focus on what God is doing, that becomes an encouragement to our heart

and within our life. Now when you have a fever, it indicates that something is wrong in your body. And when we complain, it's always an indication that something

is wrong within our soul. It's an indication of a heart that is not fully trusting and surrendered

to the Lord within our life. You know that complaining makes everything worse. It erodes our joy. It harms our influence. It

insults the goodness of God. And for many of us, it's a real problem. It also affects those who

are around us. If you complain, then you just suck the joy right out of everyone else's heart. You sour the mood and you poison

the well of everyone around you. Now, most of us don't have any idea the impact that our

complaining has on others. But later in the Exodus story, ten complaining spies discourage millions of people from following the Lord.

Just a few complainers can dampen the enthusiasm of a whole family, a whole congregation, or even a whole ministry.

And so let's begin reading in verse number 1. And they journeyed from Elam, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin,

which is between Elam and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt.

Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Now keep in mind that these people had just seen

the mighty display of God's power in the plagues of Egypt. They had just experienced days before

the parting of the Red Sea. They were able to see the visible presence of God in a cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night.

Now, you would think by this time they were so dependent upon the goodness of God and so

appreciative for all that God had done, but instead we find that they were a very immature people who had a long way to go, a lot like we do sometimes. Complaining is an expression of

spiritual immaturity within our life. Now, a little baby whines at the slightest discomfort,

don't they? I mean, just the littlest thing, and they start to whine or to cry. But a mature adult is able to tolerate a great deal

more without complaining. And so complaining is evidence of an immature Christian. It's a

characteristic of one who has not yet learned to trust God to provide and to lead them within their life. It's the inability to see God's goodness and God's

grace. God had done so many amazing wonders and things for the people of Israel, and yet they had

forgotten all of them. Look what it says in verse number three. and the children of Israel said to them, oh, that we had died by the hand of

the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full,

for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

Now, they begin to think of the good old days, but, you know, complaining often exaggerates the past, doesn't it?

Their memory of the past wasn't even accurate.

They were slaves in Egypt.

They had forgotten the bondage and the beatings of slavery.

They had forgotten the genocide that Pharaoh unleashed upon them.

And constant complainers often exaggerate the past. Now, when we constantly are

focused on the past, we can't focus on what God is trying to teach us in the particular moment

in life that he has led us to. God had led them exactly where they are through the pillar of fire

and the cloud by day, and yet they were unable to learn

the lessons that God was trying to teach them. Look what it says in verses 4 through 9.

Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall

go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not.

And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, At evening you

shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall

see the glory of the Lord, for he hears your complaints against the Lord. But what are we that you complain

against us? And Moses said, this shall be seen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening

and in the morning bread to the full. For the Lord hears your complaints which you make against him.

And what are we? Your complaints are not against us, but against the Lord. Then Moses spoke to Aaron,

say to all the congregation of the children of Israel,

come near before the Lord, for he has heard your complaints. Now, if I was the Lord, I would be

thinking about wiping all of these people out. I'd done all these wonderful things for them,

and now they're complaining. They don't trust me and so forth, but that's not how the Lord responds. God responds to our complaining

with grace. Now, in our home, our official policy is we do not negotiate with terrorists or kids who

whine. That's just how it works. I mean, that's not completely true. We might negotiate with terrorists, but we don't negotiate with kids who want, all right? Now, look at God's response, though. He extends grace

to them in their unbelief and in the hardness of their heart. He provides manna for them to eat.

Now, you don't stop feeding your kids when they say or do stupid stuff. I mean,

if my parents had done that, I would have starved to death as a kid, you know?

And God doesn't stop loving you or me when we sin. Even when we're ungrateful whiners,

God loves us, and he extends his grace to us.

See, God, wherever you are at, loves you.

Whatever you have done, God loves you.

If we could only understand the depth and the width and the height and the expanse and the breadth of God's love,

then it would change our life forever.

We would never be the same, and no decision that we

make would ever look the way that it does. You see, you cannot do anything to cause God to love you

more. His love is an infinite love in Christ. Notice what it says in verse number 10.

It says,

Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel,

that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

I have heard the complaints of the children 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. So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp.

And when the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a small round

substance as fine as frost on the ground. So when the children 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, this is the bread

which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded. Let every man

gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person, according to the number of

persons. Let every man take for those who are in his tent. Then the children of Israel did so and We see in this passage that God says,

what I'm about to do is to demonstrate my glory to you,

that you may know that I am the Lord.

You see, understanding that God is the main character of life

erodes our complaining. All of this is about God's glory, that they and we may know that God

is the Lord, that God is a glorious God. We see the glory of God manifested in His provision and His care and His

love for them. You see, the only way for us to complain is for us to think that we're the center

of the universe. We complain about the rain, but some farmer out there is thanking God for the rain, for the food and the substance that God is giving to him.

We often think in terms of just ourselves,

and that leads to our attitude being one of complaining.

You and I are not the main character in the film.

Your life is a theater of God's glory to demonstrate that he is the Lord,

that he is good, and that he is gracious. Why do we get upset when terrible things happen to us?

Well, it's because we think that terrible things shouldn't happen to the main character, right? I mean, he can't die.

He's the main character. And so we begin to look at life as if it's all about us. But if you

recognize that you are not the main character of your life, then you have different expectations

for your life. Suddenly, you just want your life to point to the Lord Jesus Christ because he is

the main character of the story. You know, the best way to feel good is to feel small.

We love to look out at the Milky Way and up at the stars. You know why? Because it makes us feel small.

We love to look at the Grand Canyon and the vast expanse of that giant place on earth. Why?

Because it makes us feel small. And we feel best when we feel small. If you want to feel bad, try feeling big. And you will be miserable because you were not meant to be the main character.

If you want to feel good, then try to feel small.

And you'll feel great because that aligns with who you really are.

It aligns with reality as it truly is. You see, we feel good and grateful when we recognize

that God created everything, that he is so big and glorious and great, and I'm glad for any

little thing that God gives me within my life. The key to gratitude is to understand that God is the main character

of our life. And now, everything within our life, triumph or tragedy, good or bad,

can point to the main character of our life, the Lord Jesus Christ. And suddenly that resets everything. It changes our

thinking. It resets our heart, and it puts our spirit in alignment with God. Notice what he says

in verse number 18. So when they had measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over,

and he who gathered little had no lack.

Every man gathered according to each one's need.

And Moses said, Let no one leave any of it till morning.

Notwithstanding, they did not heed Moses, but some of them left part of it until morning,

and it bred worms and stank, and Moses was angry with them.

And so they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need, Now God provided bread or manna for them,

and notice that he gives them exactly what they need for one day.

No more and no less. Here's the principle. God gives us just enough

grace for the day. You know, when you need grace, God supplies the grace that you need.

But He only gives us enough grace for the day to teach us to depend upon him each and every

day. Now, our mind often goes to hypotheticals, doesn't it? What if, and, or, or buts, right?

But God doesn't give us grace for the if, and, or, or buts, right? He gives us grace for today. He gives us the grace that we need right

now in this moment. And so there's a principle. When you're suffering, shorten the time frame.

And the more intense the suffering, the shorter the time frame needs to be. If we think, well,

how am I going to do this for another five years?

It becomes absolutely overwhelming because God only gave us grace for today, not for the next

five years. Instead, pray for God to give you enough grace for today, and he will supply his

grace. If it's extremely tough suffering, then shorten the time frame to maybe an hour

or 10 minutes. God, give me enough grace to get through the next hour. It's kind of like our

headlights. You know, when you're driving home at night and the headlights are on, they don't show

you the way all the way to home. No, they just show you for what's right there in front of you. And it just

gives you what you need right then. And that's the way God's grace is. God doesn't give us the

grace for all the things we're going to face. You don't even know what you're going to face.

You couldn't possibly predict it correctly. What God does is he gives us enough grace for that day

so that we learn to depend upon him.

And he gave them manna, and he said, it's only going to last for one day.

Why? So you learn to depend upon me.

And trust me to provide for you each and every day.

Notice what it says in verses 22 through 30.

And so it was on the sixth day that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

Then he said to them, This is what the Lord has said.

Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.

Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil,

and lay up for yourself all that remains to be kept until morning.

But they laid it up until morning, as Moses commanded,

and it did not stink,

nor were there any worms in it. And Moses said, Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord.

Today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day,

the Sabbath, there will be none. Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.

And the Lord said to Moses, How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

See, for the Lord has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day bread for two days.

Let every man remain in his place. Let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.

So the people rested on the seventh day.

Notice, on the other days, they gathered one day,

and if they gathered two days, it went bad.

But on the day before the Sabbath, they were to gather two days,

and God was to preserve it so that they could rest upon the Sabbath.

Notice, God set up a system where they could not be lazy.

They had to get up early in the morning

to gather their food and their bread

so that they could eat.

They had to labor.

And the idea is that labor creates leisure.

You know, you can't have all leisure, and you also can't have all labor.

If you have all labor, you're going to burn out, and you're going to be worn out. But if you have

all leisure, then you're not able to really have purpose and productivity within your life. And so

we need both. We need achievement, and we also need enjoyment within our life.

Here's the principle. Rest allows us to reflect upon where God is working and to be grateful.

You know, we should spend at least one hour each week thinking about the last week and just being grateful for what God has done.

Sometimes we just need a moment to ask God where he is working within our life and to be grateful for what God is teaching you. The Sabbath is about reflecting upon the past, present, and future goodness of God. And that takes time.

To set aside time to be thankful and enjoy the blessings of God

and most of all to enjoy the presence of God

and your relationship with God.

The Sabbath allows us to get our minds and our hearts

off of the world and onto God.

And it's a wonderful blessing to stop and to rest in the

Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the goodness and the grace of God. Notice what it says in verse

number 31. And the house of Israel called its name Mna. By the way, that means what.

So they asked, what is it?

And then they said, we're just going to call it that.

What is it?

And they called it manna.

And it was like white coriander seed,

and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

Then Moses said, this is the thing which the Lord has commanded.

Fill an omer with it to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the

wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt. Moses said to Aaron, Take a pot and put an

omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations. As the Lord

commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony to be kept. And the children of Israel

ate manna forty years until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until they came

to the border of the land of Canaan. Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah. Now God says,

I want you to take some of this manna, and I want you to put it in a jar, and I want you to keep it as a reminder for future generations of how God

provided for you in the midst of the wilderness. You see, the Bible says in the New Testament

that the book of Exodus, the story of the Exodus is for you and I,

to encourage us to trust in the Lord, to warn us against unbelief, and to encourage us to recognize

the glory and the grace of God within our life. God says, I want you to remember what I have done

for you. Complaining forgets God's providence and goodness to us. Now, you would think after all that God had done for them that they would

never complain again. God had parted the Red Sea. He had delivered them out of Egypt in great signs

and wonders. He had provided fresh water. He had provided daily food, and they saw God's goodness. By the way, if you want to know what your idols are,

look at what you complain about. That is what you care about more than God.

That's what you're trusting in for your comfort and your security and your desire. That's what

you're looking for, for satisfaction more than God. And in their case,

it was food. Now, how many times do we complain about the same things that we complained about

in the past? I mean, we complain about finances, how we're going to make it.

We had the same complaint years ago, and yet God supplied our need. God took

care of us, so why are we still complaining about the same thing? We complain about the problems

in the world and all that's going on, and yet we complained about all the problems in the world

years ago, and God sustained us. I mean, you think complaining about politics or complaining

about the economy or complaining about things going on is new? God has supplied us in the past,

and He's taken care of us in the past, and He'll take care of us in the future. And when we learn

that God supplied in the past, it teaches us that God will supply in the present

and in the future. See, contentment does not come from having all of our needs met.

There are plenty of people who have all their needs met and yet are not content.

Contentment comes from recognizing that all of our needs are met by God,

of focusing on His goodness and His grace, to recognize His providence and how that He is

always at work. Sometimes we can't see it. Sometimes we can't feel it, but God is always at work within our life. Now, I want to give two points of

application from this story. The first is, when you are tempted to complain, pray for a positive

attitude. You know, having a positive attitude changes everything within life.

You can have two people go through the same circumstances in life,

and one come out with a bitter, hard heart,

and the other come out with just a wonderful, joyful spirit.

It's about the attitude and the trust that we have in the Lord

of recognizing that He is at work. And so pray. If you're

complaining about a person, then pray for them. When I begin to pray for someone,

immediately I start loving them more. God does something in my heart. He shares his heart in my heart for that person. And so if

you want to love people more, then pray for them more and God will grow your love for them.

As you begin to pray for them, God begins to work in your heart and give you a heart

after his own heart. But also we have to learn to overlook people's flaws and

to focus on their strengths. And when we are positive about other people, often they become

positive about us. That is just the way that it works. Now, if you're complaining not about people,

but you're complaining about circumstances, then pray about those circumstances. We all have things in our life that aren't right,

that are wrong, and we all have reasons to complain if we choose to. But when we pray

about our circumstances, immediately you become alert to ways that God is working in your

circumstances, and you become thankful for God using your circumstances to mature you.

You focus not on the circumstances, but you focus on what God is teaching you

and what God is doing within your life.

And you will find that a positive attitude increases your energy level.

It makes you more productive.

It strengthens your relationship. It makes you more productive. It

strengthens your relationship. It makes life more enjoyable. But most of all, it deepens our walk

and our relationship with God. A positive attitude flows from a heart that is trusting and rejoicing

in the Lord. The second point of application is this.

The cure for complaining is trust in God.

Really, that's the main point of the passage,

of who God is, that he is good and he is gracious

and he is worthy of our trust.

Now, complainers love to use the word but in a negative way. Have you ever

noticed that? God parted the waters of the Red Sea, but the water is bitter and we're out of water.

It's a good land flowing with milk and honey, but there are giants there.

I like the weather, but it gets really hot in July, have you noticed?

I mean, she's a good wife, but she's always late.

We have a good team, but we didn't win big enough, you know.

And when we complain, it's never good enough because complaining removes God out of the equation.

But in the Bible, we find that the word but

is used in a positive way because it considers God.

Joseph was sold into slavery,

but God used it to save many people alive.

Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, but God shut the mouth of the lions and brought glory to his name.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace,

but one, like the Son of God, was in the midst of them.

You see, the Bible recognizes that God is in the midst of our circumstances and the difficulties that we face and that he's teaching us and that he's working in those things for his greater glory and our greater good.

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul said of Ephesus, there are many adversaries here, but God has opened a wide door for the gospel to be spread. The disciples of Jesus came and they said,

we have nothing to feed the people,

but we do have a lad here with five loaves and two fish.

In the book of Acts, it says there was great persecution

that came upon the church, but the word of God spread

and many people came to faith in Christ.

Jesus says no man can come to the Father, but you can by me.

The book of Revelation says that nothing impure can enter into heaven,

but those written in the Lamb's book of life will.

The cure for complaining is faith in God. As soon as we begin to look at God,

we recognize that our circumstances aren't in control. God is in control. Other people

aren't in control. We're not in control, but God is in control. Now, we see in the New Testament

that Christ is involved in all of these stories. Right before this, they came to Mara where the

water was bitter, and they couldn't drink it. And God said, throw a tree into the water,

and it will sweeten the water, and you'll

be able to drink. And in the New Testament, we see Christ on the cross, and it is a tree that

makes life sweet, isn't it? We look at the most bitter thing in history, the Son of God dying on

the cross, and we see the most sweet salvation of sinners come out of that so that we can know

God for all of eternity. In John chapter 6, Jesus said, I am the bread that comes down from heaven.

John 6 · chapter mention

I am the one who will give you identity and fulfillment. I will give you forgiveness and

salvation, community and relationship. I am the

one who will satisfy your soul. Later, they ran out of water again, and God says, I want you to

hit the rock, and water came out of the rock. And Paul says, Jesus Christ is the rock from which we

can drink. He is the one who satisfies our thirst. He is the one who satisfies our hunger for God.

And so the Bible ends with an invitation for anyone who is thirsty to come to Jesus,

and they will never thirst again. He is the one who satisfies the thirst within our heart for a relationship with God.

And that is how we end today.

We invite you to come to Jesus and to never thirst again,

to receive forgiveness of sins,

to receive fellowship and communion with God,

to receive eternal life, to receive meaning and purpose in life that cannot exist apart

from Christ. If you are thirsty, Jesus is the water of God who will satisfy your thirst.

If you are hungry and you know there's something you want more, that life cannot satisfy, that things cannot satiate,

and the circumstances cannot bring about, then the Bible says, come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the bread of life from heaven, and He will satisfy your hunger. He will give you salvation, and He alone will give you satisfaction.

Let's bow together in an attitude of prayer.

Here in a few moments, we're going to have an invitation.

There's going to be music playing, and there's going to be pastors and counselors here at the front. And as we stand and as we sing, we want to invite you to come and say, I want to give my life to Christ.

I've been thirsty, and I've tried to satisfy that thirst in so many ways.

But today, I recognize that Jesus is the living water who will satisfy my thirst.

Maybe you've been hungry.

You've recognized your sin and you feel the guilt of that.

You feel the conviction of that.

You feel the alienation that sin brings between you and God.

And you hunger for a relationship with your maker, your creator.

You were made for God to know and enjoy

him. Maybe this morning you would say, I'm hungry. I'm hungry for my sins to be forgiven and for my

soul and my heart to be made white as snow. I'm hungry for a relationship with God. I'm hungry

for purpose within my life. I'm hungry for a relationship that only Jesus can satisfy.

We invite you to come and say, I want to give my life to Christ. I want to put my trust and my

faith in Him. The Bible says Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sin, and He rose from the

dead. And the Bible says if we will turn from our sin and put our faith in Jesus, the Bible says that we will be saved. So we invite you to come and give your life to Christ this

morning. Maybe you've given your life to Christ, but you say, I've never followed him. Believers,

baptism, you like to come and say, I want to be baptized. I want to profess to the world that I

believe in Jesus. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God until salvation.

You can come forward, and we'd love to talk to you about that and set up a time

for you to go public with your faith through Believer's Baptism.

Maybe the Lord's leading you to join this church, be a part of this family,

a place where you can grow, a place where you can be fed,

a place where your hunger can be satisfied with the Word of God and the Son of God.

You can come forward and say, I want to be a part of this church. God's leading me here

to grow and to serve. Maybe this morning you're here and you say,

you know,

I think I needed this message.

You know, if that's you, you're not alone.

I preached this message to myself

long before I preached it to you

because I needed it.

Maybe you say,

I've been complaining about a lot of things in my life

and maybe the Holy Spirit's convicting you of one of those things or a few of those things.

Maybe you've even developed a spirit of complaining, a negative attitude of unthankfulness

and ungratefulness within your heart. And right where you are, you can come forward and pray here. You would like to

come to the Lord and say, God, I want to confess this sin before you. I haven't been trusting you.

I haven't been grateful. I haven't been looking for what you're teaching me. I haven't been

looking for what you're doing. I've just been fighting you instead of following you. Right now, you can come before the Lord

in prayer and ask him to forgive your sin, to give you a clean heart and a right spirit before him. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time.

We thank you for your word that, Lord, just as you supplied for the people of Israel out in the wilderness,

that you supply our needs with your grace.

Lord, we're thankful for your goodness and your grace.

I pray, God, that we would see it, that we would look for it. Lord, that our life would be about your glory and grace

at all times. God, I pray that you would create in us a clean heart and a right spirit before you. Lord, that we would stay away from complaining.

And Lord, instead, we would focus our heart on praise

and trusting you.

Lord, work in this invitation.

Draw us to yourself.

Bring sinners to salvation.

Bring saints to sanctification. Have your will and

your way within our hearts and our lives as we trust you and as we surrender to you.

In Christ's name we pray. Amen. If you enjoyed this message, and if you did, we would be so grateful if you left us a review. Also, go ahead and subscribe to the podcast if you would like to be notified when a new sermon is released.

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