Cooler today, and very windy. 

The cherry orchardists must be extremely happy.  It would appear it has been a good year.  We have had cherries from several parts of town and they all are plentiful, juicy, sweet and delicious. 

Numbers 11:1 And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

The Jewish people never seemed to be satisfied, they complained about food, about being in the wilderness without the tyranny of the Egyptians.

God provided food; He provided a safe journey with His protection.  He had performed many miracles on their behalf, still they were not satisfied – finally it was the last straw and He punished them.

And Even though they had been warned and disciplined for their continued complaining, they never fully stopped complaining – usually just stopped long enough to have Moses pray for them, interceding and then quickly forgetting.

Not only were these lessons the Jews must learn, they are their for out edification.

1 Corinthians 10:5-6 & 10 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

When we are complaining about whatever our circumstances are, when we find ourselves not able to say anything positive about what God has done for us we are pitying ourselves and not serving God.

Whatever we go through, God is there for us.  It may be difficult at times, we may not like experiencing what is happening and we have a right to have our problems heard, we still must acknowledge that God is in charge and trust Him to help us through – and instead of constantly complaining, trust that He is there for us and He will make us stronger.

That doesn’t mean we can’t confront our accusers, or tell the authorities, whoever they may be, but when we continue to dwell on the situation, continue to grumble and complain we need to reassess our condition.

Ask God for guidance and then follow Him.  There will be times we can correct the circumstances of our distress, but not always and then we must decide to either stay under that duress or move on with our life.

I realize that there are circumstances where we really feel there is nowhere to turn we can’t leave, we can’t control anything.  Grumbling and complaining just drives us deeper into despair, we need to pray for guidance, pray for strength to carry on, and then do what must be done without continually complaining about it.

Later, Art :-)