Exodus 17:2

Calvin of ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ captured our human condition beautifully when he said, “Nothing helps a bad mood like spreading it around.”

In an ideal world, we’re free from everyone else’s gripes, while everyone else agrees with ours. To live in this world is to repeatedly encounter the thirst it creates in ourselves and other people - and the misplaced expectations that come with it. What Calvin embodied in a comic strip, Moses encountered in the wilderness.

And whether he realized it or not, Moses was the mouthpiece of God’s perspective.

Moses’ questioning provides three helpful insights that keep us from getting caught in the snare of the complaining we encounter:

1. The actual issue - People have a quarrelsome nature, even after having been provided for. We all forget God’s goodness, and need regular reminders. The complaint is often just a bad approach to a very real human condition: a thirsty soul.

2. Our actual role - To be on the receiving end of grumbling is to be faced with the temptation to answer and appease every little thing. This only creates a sense of misdirected dependence. We’re an arrow to the answer, not the answer itself.

3. The actual solution - Moses remembered all God had done to deliver his people. In various forms, God brought repeated salvation, guidance, and provision. To remember God’s presence keeps us upright when people get pushy.