How to Complain and Be Miserable (Numbers 11.2)

But the people cried out to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated.

Do you ever complain? Of course you do—we all do. We complain about our life, our surroundings, or the people around us. Complaining is not always bad. In the right amount and done the right way, it can lead us to make positive changes, to adopt a new perspective, or to help us see a problem.

Background

The prayer in Numbers 11.2 is a model of complaining. The previous prayer (Num 10.35–36) described how God would protect his people and help them defeat their enemies. Immediately after, we read that the Israelites are complaining. It must be of the kind we described above—constant and negative—because it makes God angry. He is so angry that he sends fire down to destroy parts of the people’s camp. Maybe this was a warning shot, for it does have an effect on the people: they go and complain to Moses!

Moses could have then, perhaps, gone to God and complained, but he did not. Instead, he offered a prayer for complainers—an intercession. God listens to Moses and douses the fire. Sadly, this story is the first in a pattern that re-occurs for the next fourteen chapters. The people complain, God sends a warning, they cry to Moses, Moses prays, God relents. At times, even Moses turns to complaining—none of us are above it.

Our reaction to this story might be to criticize the Israelites. What babies! Could they not see how ungratefully they were acting? Before we become self-righteous, however, we should take a good look at ourselves. The biblical story, after all, is not just a story about people long, long ago. It is also a story about us. It tells us what humans are like. What we are like.

Meaning

There are two kinds of people in such stories: those who focus on the problem, and those who focus on the art. Which do you choose to be? The person who complains, or the person who offers prayers for those who complain?

Unfortunately, it is easy for complaining to become a hobby. How many of us know someone who makes a practice of complaining? They (or we) may be unaware of just how much they complain. After all, few people admit, “Yes, I am a constant complainer.” Because it is hard to see ourselves as others do, it may well be that we are a complainer and do not know it.

This is dangerous to our spiritual practices because constant complaining drains the joy from life for us and those around us. More important, it demonstrates a view of the world that is contrary to God’s intention. True, we live in a fallen world where sin abounds, and bad things happen. To acknowledge that on occasion is not to be a complainer. But to focus on the fallen aspects and not the remarkable aspects of God’s creation is ungrateful and misses the purpose of life.

The Santa Maria delle Grazie church in Milan, Italy, is where Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, The Last Supper, is located. This renowned work of art was painted about 1498 on a wall of a dining hall in the church. Over the centuries it sustained much wear and tear. It faded, flaked, had a door cut through it, French soldiers scratched out the eyes of the Apostles, and a bomb nearly destroyed the painting during World War II. Restorations took place in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, some of which worsened the damage. The twentieth century saw three attempts. The last was a major restoration that caused much controversy because it made dramatic changes to the colors and shapes.

Despite all this, the painting is still one of the most famous in all the world. The style, the textures, and the symbolism have been the subject of constant study by scholars, art aficionados, and the public for 500 years. No one doubts the skill, the beauty, and the talent of da Vinci. The unique artistic elements and its history have even made it part of many conspiracy theories and rumors in literature and film. Most people have heard of the painting, many have seen pictures of it, but few know of its history or its terrible condition.

Imagine that you are in Italy, standing before this painting. A friend stands beside you. You are face-to-face with one of history’s most famous works of art, and you are in awe. Yet all your friend does is discuss the damage, the dirt, the chemical make-up, the mistakes of the restorers, and the loss of the “original.”

This might be interesting and not entirely incorrect. However, you try to turn the discussion to the art itself: the skill of da Vinci and the beauty of the composition. But it is to no avail—your friend only wishes to discuss the problems. Maybe your friend says, “yes, that is an interesting depiction of John, but the restorers changed the color and shape of John’s face.” Those critiques, as valid as they might be, stand outside the painting as a creation of art—which is its purpose. Your friend chooses to view what has been done to the painting, rather than what the painting is or what it represents.

To view a painting in this manner might seem silly, but this is what we do with God’s creation. We focus on what has happened to the world or what has been done to God’s creation, rather than on the work of art created by the Master Creator and its purpose.

Application

This week, do your best to be aware of each time you find yourself criticizing, complaining, or being negative. Stop and make a note of it in your journal. Don’t be hard on yourself: just observe. Perhaps you have constructive reasons for complaining. Perhaps you do not do it too often. But you may find you do it more than you thought. If you want to take this exercise to another level of accountability, ask others to catch you at complaining and point it out to you.

At the end of the week, look over your journal and take stock of what you wrote. Were you an aficionado of God’s art, or were you a mere fault-finder? Were you one of the complaining masses, or were you Moses? Typically, the act of admitting our negativity stops us from doing it too often. Take some time to think of ways you can be more appreciative of the Creation today in all its aspects: not just “nature,” but people, life, work, and play. Offer a prayer for those who, like you, sometimes adopt complaining as a hobby. Vow to be an “appreciator” of the Art of God rather than a complainer of the problems.