You Want Some Cheese With That Whine?
A Devotional
© 2001 Steve Lattier and Men's Help Ministries

I fear that I might have given away the subject of this weeks devotion in the title. Darn! Just because we are Christian does not prevent us from acting like a child in front of others and even God. My wife and I are busy raising our third child and while he is not yet ready, there will come a time in between his first complete sentence and the day he draws his last breath that he will resort to incessant whining as a means to an end. Everyone who lives has done it at one time or another and many still do from time to time. What is it that causes us to whine? Well, certainly we are after something. There is a desire that we have that is not being fulfilled, right? It could stem from shallow faith, impatience or greed. No matter what the root cause the end result is still the same though, isn't it? God calls everyone at some time or another into ministry for Him. How we respond to that is very important. We could ignore God, pretending that we did not hear the call. We could put it off with all the ready made excuses of our modern age. Sadly I think that we most often take Moses' approach to his call. You remember the story, Moses saw a burning bush and walked over to see it. He wound up becoming Gods' prophet. But, before he did look at his side of the conversation. I have omitted what God replied to save space. How many times does Moses' responses reflect our own? Remember Moses is standing on Holy ground talking face to face with God himself. What Moses says to God will shock you!

The Word:
Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

Exodus 3:13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, `What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"

Exodus 4:1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, `The LORD did not appear to you'?"

Exodus 4:10 Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

Exodus 4:13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

There, every excuse in the book! What was he thinking? I would never talk to God that way! Oh, I bet that you have on many occasions Christian! We have so much that demands our attention in the world, not that it is right but it is there nonetheless. When God calls us to serve Him in some capacity the first thing we do is start whining, oh, excuse me, explaining to Him why we can't do what He wants us to. It is ironic to think that we know better than God whether or not we are able to do a thing or even have the talent. Just as God completed and prepared Moses for his work God will ready us for our tasks as well. Did you know that God even gave Moses assistants? Yes, from the start Moses had his brother Aaron and later he had Joshua as well! So now what is stopping you from going with God into the ministry that he has prepared for you? God was very patient with Moses over the years. While Moses had a good relationship with the Lord he wasn't a very strong person. He frequently came running to the Lord with some complaint or another about the Israelites. In this next verse the Israelites had been in the desert for some time and were short on water.

The Word:
Exodus 17:4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me."

Nowhere did the preceding verses speak about the people wanting to stone Moses, it does say that they were complaining and muttering. I think Moses, in his impatience to get God to act, embellished the truth just a bit. When we are complaining it is easy to make things up so that our situation sounds more dire, or important than it really is. Granted, Moses was probably tired of hearing the people do almost nothing but complain to him, but he still didn't need to whine to God about it! Job was another man of God who really went on a whining spree. We know the background, Job was afflicted by the devil with Gods' permission. Job's life turned into a real disaster. Job had more of something that we generally do not. Job had, up until that dreadful day, an extremely close relationship with God. He also had wisdom about godly things. Job was confident that he had not been rebuked because of some sin in his life but, instead of stopping there he had to commence whining about his self righteousness!

The Word:
Job 31:24 "If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, `You are my security,' [25] if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained, [26] if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, [27] so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered them a kiss of homage, [28] then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high. [29] "If I have rejoiced at my enemy's misfortune or gloated over the trouble that came to him-- [30] I have not allowed my mouth to sin by invoking a curse against his life-- [31] if the men of my household have never said, `Who has not had his fill of Job's meat?'-- [32] but no stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler-- [33] if I have concealed my sin as men do,* by hiding my guilt in my heart

We are often not in control of our circumstances. We may have lost a job or some natural disaster has taken our things. Evil people may have affected our life in some devastating way. Heck it may even be a personal issue in your home. Bottom line Christian, things happen. Our witness is not determined by what happens to us but how we respond to the things that do happen! Job went on and on in that self righteous tone for a while. His friends rebuked him for it then God showed up pretty mad about the whole sordid scene. God was angry at Job for whining. God essentially asked Job, “Just who do you think you are?” You can read it for yourself God raked him over the coals for his attitude about the situation. No matter what has happened in our lives and whether WE think we deserve it or not God is still God and we are not! Jonah was yet another. Here he is, prophet of God and whiner extraordinaire. You recall, I am sure the story of the fish. Jonah rebelled against a mission that God wanted him to go on and got into a whale of a situation. After that Jonah saw the sense of being obedient and went on to Nineveh to preach repentance. His mission was unequivocably successful and God was pleased. Well, until Jonah started whining.

The Word:
Jonah 4:1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. [2] He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. [3] Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."

Yes he said it, he wanted to die! For what? For being successful in Gods mission field? Well it all boils down to the fact that Jonah didn't like the Ninevites and was unhappy that they now shared the same salvation that he did. How many times has our jealousy of someone getting something caused us to complain. A new car, a better job, a nice house. Sometimes God blesses people who were much worse sinners than we were, just to prove that His grace is sufficient. Blessings will come and go and people you are not fond of will get them from time to time. That is no excuse to start in with a reprehensible whining session! Guard your heart Christian, that is the place that those feelings will come from. Use your disquiet to talk to God about your heart. Seek Him in the times that you feel injustice has been done or that you are in a place that you do not deserve. Don't just start speaking out if the passion of the moment. You can overcome the desire to whine about the things that are going on. Certainly do not whine when God calls you into a branch of his ministry!

Pray with me: Father I am humbled by seeing my own actions in scripture. It is other people and other times but, Lord I have done those things and that is just wrong. Help me to know that in spite of my moments you are God for all eternity. Help me to keep my life and circumstances in YOUR priority. Help me, Father, to hold my tongue in check when things happen. Open my heart to the ministry you have for me and call me again Lord! In everything I ask this in Jesus name. Amen!


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"You want some cheese with that whine?" - one of my favorite scriptures of all times "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love..."