Are you a grumbler? Complainer?

Many of us are…

Do you wonder why things don’t go well for you? Why you’re depressed or angry or broke?

Maybe it’s because you’re letting the wrong words come out of your mouth.

We see the impact of the Israelites’ grumbling and complaining in the book of Exodus. God not only freed them from 400 years of slavery, conquered the entire Egyptian army, parted the Red Sea, and deposited them in safety on the other side. He also repeatedly provided for them, always in miraculous ways. And yet, repeatedly, the Israelites grumbled, complained, and whined.

They didn’t like the water.

They didn’t like the food.

They wanted to go back to Egypt where they remembered only the good things (the leeks, the onions, the garlic, the fish….) and totally forgot the bad stuff (slavery…).

Like a good parent, the Lord used increasing discipline to try to teach His people that He really could provide for them. He allowed the words of their mouths to reap the natural result: plagues, famine, warfare.

Unfortunately, they never did learn.

Perhaps the worst part was that they brought the ultimate curse upon themselves. Repeatedly the people whined, “It would have been better to stay in Egypt (as slaves) rather than die in the wilderness!”

After receiving the bad report from the twelve spies Moses had sent in to determine how to take the Promised Land (not if they should take it), they decided to fire Moses, select a new leader, and return to Egypt.

The Lord was NOT happy. He sent a plague to destroy the spies who gave the bad report and sentenced the rest of the nation to wander in the wilderness for 40 years – one year for every day the spies were in the land (Num. 14:34). He also sentenced every person over the age of 20 (except Caleb and Joshua) to die in the wilderness, fulfilling the words they had spoken. They would not enter the Promised Land (Num. 14:29).

This was NOT the Lord’s intent for his people. His plan was for them to leave Egypt, form a nation, and prosper in the Promised Land.

But the people had free will, and they used that free will to heap word curses upon themselves.

The result?

“‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you.’” (Num. 14:28).

Do you see that? He gave them exactly what they grumbled about. Instead of their grumbling causing Him to bless them, they created their own reality through their words. When they grumbled and complained, they got what they were grumbling about! It was like a boomerang effect.

How About You? Are You a Grumbler?

So how about you? Are you in the habit of complaining about your circumstances? Grumbling when things don’t go well? Whining when you don’t get your way?

And are you getting more of same, causing you to grumble more?

Are you in an endless do-loop of misery, wondering why your prayers don’t get answered?

I would suggest it’s primarily in the words that come out of your mouth.

You see, because we are created in the image of our Creator God, who spoke the world into existence, our words have power. Creative power. When we speak, both angels and demons are listening. If we complain, the demons say, “I can work with that.” And they go on to orchestrate the circumstances where those words come true. Likewise, if we praise and speak faith and gratitude, the angels say, “I can work with that!” And they go on to orchestrate the circumstances that will bring about a blessing.

It’s all in the power of our words.

Moses expressed this in Deuteronomy 30:19-20:

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

If you find that you’re getting more curses than blessings, I encourage you to repent, make a U-turn, and begin to express gratitude, even when things don’t go your way.

Trust that God’s plan is a good plan. And watch your circumstances change.