MEN ALIVE: Jim Cunningham & Paul Estabrooks' Podcast
Programs to help men become transformed to the image (character) of Jesus Christ.
MEN ALIVE: Jim Cunningham & Paul Estabrooks' Podcast
Men Alive 228 - The Impact of Men's Grumbling on Their Destiny
This episode of Men Alive, a Go Teach Global presentation, challenges listeners to rise above the instinct to panic or complain when faced with life's hurdles. Reflecting on the lessons from 1 Corinthians 10:10-11, we spotlight the necessity for maintaining steadfast faith and emulating the silence of Jesus Christ when reviled. Dr. Cunningham's wisdom encourages us to embark on the path to becoming Men Alive, fostering a life of faith and perseverance, free from the burdens of grumbling. Tune in and transform how you approach adversities, taking a step closer to living in the fullness of Christ's example.
Welcome to Men Alive, a biblical journey to help us conform to the image of Jesus Christ. I'm your host, Paul Estabrooks. Our teacher is my longtime friend, Dr Jim Cunningham, consultant in adult education, director of Go Teach Global and author of Men Alive, Dr Jim.
Speaker 2:Some of our listeners are perpetually positive. They see the good in the people. The glass for them is half full. Yet other men seem to find the glass half empty. If you say good morning, their response is equivalent to what's good about it. No matter how bright the sun, how blue the sky, things are not right in their world, and the minute you meet them they begin to complain about something. Have you ever wondered what makes men complain?
Speaker 1:Sure have, jim. I had an Australian friend who said these are the kind of men who respond to the greeting have a good day with. I've already decided not to.
Speaker 2:Let me tell you where I'm going with this thought. Rita and I were reading along in the book of Numbers, and we came to Numbers 14, 20 to 23, where the Lord has led the children of Israel through the wilderness for 40 years. And the Lord said to Moses all these men who have seen my glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness and have put me to the test now these ten times and have not heeded my voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected me see it. So I began thinking okay, these Israelis saw the power of God exhibited numerous times, and they still complained against God ten different times. Their rebellion against God kept them out of the Promised Land for 40 years until they all died. And then their children and grandchildren crossed the Jordan and entered the land promised by God to Abraham, isaac and Jacob over 500 years earlier, Jim, 600,000 men left Egypt in the Exodus and over the next 40 years they all died in the desert.
Speaker 1:If we divide 600,000 by 40 years, there could have been 15,000 funerals a year, for an average of 40 a day. That's a steep price for disobedience.
Speaker 2:But here's the mystery Despite seeing God perform miracles, the people still complained when things did not go as they thought it should. That's when I began examining what they complained about and what might be a parallel situation today, when we are prone to complain. Let's just walk through the 10 complaints in the order. They came First. There were 600,000 Israelite men escaping from Egypt and heading for the desert. A short while later, scripture says that Pharaoh mobilized what's left of his army. All his firstborn soldiers were killed on the night of the Passover, so the remainder came charging after Moses. One problem the Israelites were beside the Red Sea. And here comes Pharaoh's elite chariots on the horizons. What emotion do you think they had at that moment, pablo?
Speaker 1:In a word, fear. They were terrified. Exodus 14, 10 to 12 says they were trapped between Pharaoh's army behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. They cried out to the Lord and complained to Moses, saying Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you've led us out into this wilderness to die? Didn't we tell you when we were in Egypt to leave us alone so that we could continue serving the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to have died back there than to die here. This complaint was based on fear fear of either being killed or captured and persecuted.
Speaker 2:When things do not go as we think they are supposed to. It leaves us in a state of uncertainty and even confusion, and we do not know what to do next or how to respond. This fills us with fear and we begin to complain to God. Why did you allow this to happen to me? Where are you, god, when I need you? We lose the trust to be still and know that God is God. God has not left. He has a plan to get us across our Red Sea.
Speaker 2:Then, after crossing through all the water in the Red Sea, the 600,000 men with their families and flocks are in the wilderness without water for three days. Here's the second thing that will make a man complain thirst. Three days is about the limit most men can go without water. But the Israelites arrived at Merah and found the water so bitter that no one could drink it. So the people complained against Moses again, and then they added hunger. On day 15 of the second month after their departure from Egypt, the Israelites grew hungry and complained against Moses and Aaron, saying O that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by pots of meat and ate bread to the full. Now you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill us all with hunger. Pablo, it's said that a man can live for 40 days without food, three days without water, a few minutes without oxygen, but only one second without hope.
Speaker 2:Most men will complain if they begin to suffer thirst and hunger. Wives know what a hungry husband is like. If he's not fed he can get grumpy and complain. The next complaint came after God sent them manna every morning. God also gave them some rules Only gather enough manna for the day. Sure enough, some disobeyed the rules and kept some manna overnight. It bred worms and started stinking by morning. Rules can often cause men to complain. We love our freedom. We want to be in control. Loss of control can cause men to become angry, exercise poor judgment and complain. Moses told the men that they should gather twice as much as usual the morning before each Sabbath, because God would not send the manna on the Sabbath before each Sabbath. Because God would not send the manna on the Sabbath. Yet, even though the Sabbath was to be a day of rest, some of the Israelites went out to gather manna on the first Sabbath morning following their command. Of course, there was none, which led to more complaining about the rules.
Speaker 1:I hope you, our listeners, will not complain while we pause to remind you that this is Men Alive with Dr Jim Cunningham, a program whose goal is to help you become more like Jesus. Jim, let me suggest that one of the factors that can cause us men to complain is a poor memory. We forget what God has done in the past and when things do not go as planned again, we forget to praise God for how he worked in the past and begin to complain again. When the Israelites came to Rephidim, they complained because once again, there was no water to drink. They asked Moses why have you brought us out of Egypt? Was it to kill us, our children and our livestock with thirst? Their complaints were so serious Moses thought they were going to stone him. Exodus 17, 1-4.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's summarize for a moment we are just as human as the children of Israel. We can also find ourselves complaining for the same factors when we're afraid, thirsty, hungry, lack of faith, when there are rules we don't like, when we lose control and if we have a poor memory. There are three more Pablo in this list of ten. I call the next one disobedience. When the Israelites encamped at the base of Mount Sinai, moses was told to come up Mount Sinai by himself and receive a revelation from God. The people were to wait at the base of the mountain.
Speaker 2:Like most men, I tend to complain if I must wait, especially if I must wait for God to give an answer to my prayer. God tells us to ask, to believe and then to wait. He answers prayers in the fullness of time. But look what happened. Moses was gone so long 40 days that the people complained that he was never going to return. So, with the help of Aaron, they create a golden calf to serve as their new God. They worship it and offer sacrifices to it Exodus 32, 1-6. The next cause of complaining by men is what I call foolishness. Things do not go our way, so we complain again. The Bible says in Numbers 11, 1-3, that three days after their departure from Mount Sinai, the Israelites complained about their hardship again. The Bible does not tell us precisely what they complained about this time, but the complaints were so bad that it caused God to burn some of the people to death with fire. Numbers 11, 1-3.
Speaker 1:This is a good place, Jim, to remind ourselves what the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2, 14. Do all things without complaining and disputing.
Speaker 2:And two more from the book of Numbers. False memories can cause us to complain. Sometimes we can recall false memories of things being better than they were. The Israelites complained to Moses that they were tired of eating the manna and longed for the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic of Egypt Numbers 11, 4-34. And garlic of Egypt Numbers 11, 4-34. They forgot the pain and sweat of being slaves and focused not on their freedom but the false memories of how good the past was in Egypt. And last, number 10.
Speaker 2:This complaint was caused by panic. This occurred when Israel's 12 spies returned from studying the land of Canaan. The spies told the people that Canaan was a land of giants that devoured those who tried to inhabit it. This caused the people to complain against Moses and Aaron, saying If only we had died in the Egypt or in the wilderness. Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword and watch our wives and children become victims? Wouldn't it be better if we all returned to Egypt? The people began to panic and were making plans to select a new leader who would lead them back to Egypt Numbers 14.1.
Speaker 2:These programs are starting to have an impact on me. I've been thinking of the times I complain or grumble or dispute a decision, especially some of the decisions made by individuals and agencies over whom I have no control. I often find myself complaining about the issues of the day that are completely contrary to scripture. I can complain about anti-biblical social issues that are ripping our country apart. I can complain about anti-biblical political issues. But does all that griping and grumbling change our circumstances? No, only God can redirect the heart of a king to pass laws and make decisions that honor God and give us opportunity to live in peace and freedom.
Speaker 2:It helps me to remind myself frequently that God is in control. God ordained government to fulfill four primary functions to preserve society, to protect life, to punish abusers and to praise good deeds. It was never God's plan that government would own everything or control everything. Individuals made in the image of God, male and female, were given the right to marry, have children and teach them to know love and obey the living God. My prayer is that I will see God's hand at work in the decisions made by others.
Speaker 2:The children of Israel always had God with them, even when circumstances around got rough. May God prevent me from complaining the next time. Fear, thirst, hunger, lack of faith rules, loss of control, a poor memory, disobedience or false memories cause me to panic, grumble and complain. If you meet me sometime and you hear me complain, like the children of Israel, please remind me of 1 Corinthians, 10, 10, and 11 that says don't grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the angel of death. These things, the 10 things we just discussed, happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
Speaker 1:There you have it, men. As the Apostle Paul said, if you think you're standing strong, be careful not to fall. Do everything without grumbling or complaining. I think a few wives will be thanking us, jim, if this message helps their husbands be conformed to the character of Jesus Christ who, when he was reviled, kept silent and did not complain. Men Alive is a production of Go Teach Global. Visit our website at goteachglobalcom. Email Dr Jim at menaliveandtogod at gmailcom. That's menaliveandtogod at gmailcom. Until next time, I'm Paul Lester Brooks, on behalf of Dr Jim Cunningham, encouraging you to become men alive, transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
