Demanding


"Then Moses spoke again to Korah: 'Now listen, you Levites! Does it seem a small thing to you that the God of Israel has chosen you from among all the people of Israel to be near him as you serve in the Lord's Tabernacle and to stand before the people to minister to them? He has given this special ministry only to you and your fellow Levites, but now you are demanding the priesthood as well!" Numbers 16:8-10
"...the ambition of treacherous people traps them." Proverbs 11:6

Growing up, our kids had what we called the "Whiner's Timeout Chair." It was located in the room next to the kitchen and faced the wall. All day long, the chair would be filled and emptied several times. When one of the four girls began the screeching, high pitched whiny voice, off to the chair they'd go. We'd say, "We can't understand you when you're whining. Sit in the chair until you're done and then you can come back and join everyone else." A few minutes later they'd come back with the whining left in the other room.   

Moses was constantly being worn out by whiners. "We're thirsty." "We're hungry." "We want to go back to Egypt." "We're going to die out here in this wilderness." For many of them, they were right. They did die in the wilderness. Why? Primarily for whining. The Bible called it grumbling and demanding. The story today records a particularly intense scene of people who wanted to be, who demanded to be priests too. The Lord was not impressed and judgement fell quickly. 

The demanding spirit that plagued the people of Israel then is one that continues to plague us today as well. We whine about anything and everything ... I want this. I want that. And, I want it now! I still need the whiner's timeout chair from time to time. One of the real antidotes to whining presented in scripture is thankfulness. When we take the time to consider and name all the blessings God has poured out into our lives, demanding loses its luster. 

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