Numbers 14:1-2 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. and all the children murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would God we had died in this wilderness!
The people believed the evil report of the ten spies, and so they responded the way they always do: murmur and complain. A life lived by faith isn’t so easy when the going gets tough, things look bad, and prospects are dim. We are too easily prone to look at life according to what we see and feel. And so we find ourselves complaining instead of believing.
The enemies of life can look so bad, and the obstacles to happiness can look so big, that crying and complaining is the go-to response. For some, dying in this wilderness may seem like the best option. But when we look at life with the eyes of faith (Jesus’ point of view), we thank God for victory in every circumstance, we believe the promises of God for our good, turn the complaint into prayer, and in Christ we become optimistic about the future.
The Holy Spirit through the Gospel gives us the confidence and faith to trust Jesus, so that fear, doubt, worry, complaints, and murmurings against are minimized and regarded as harmful. The Good News needs to be reinforced continually, because there are many big impediments to entering the Kingdom and enjoying its life.