There had been previous instances where the children of Israel murmured against God without any immediate repercussions. The reason for their murmur was hard circumstances in the desert. The scorching heat, the migratory lifestyle and all its uncertainties took their toll on the people until they cried out. Anyone close to a nagging partner or colleague will immediately confirm that it is draining. Murmuring and complaining breed frustration. Even God found this so. In our text, God had had enough of their murmur, was displeased and swift judgment followed. Their complaints only provoked God’s anger; and His fire consumed some of them.

Murmuring and complaining breed frustration…Finally, to fight the temptation to murmur consider all the good things God has already done in your life; and give Him thanks.

Paul alluded to this encounter in his writing to the Corinthians. He warned us to desist from murmuring as some did in the wilderness and were destroyed. That means murmuring has the same effect now as it had then. Everyone of us is liable to the same temptation; and we must fight this tendency. One way to do this is to consider the unwholesome consequence for those who murmured against the Lord in the past. In their case murmuring destroyed them; but for us though we may be alive physically but that attitude will eat up some aspects of our lives. Think of it in another light: murmuring in itself does not change the condition. If we go by human relationships, that can actually harden someone’s stance against his or her spouse. Finally, to fight the temptation to murmur consider all the good things God has already done in your life; and give Him thanks.