S2 E17 Grumble Baby Stop

We all know what complaining sounds like — but do we know what it means? In this episode, We dig into what Scripture actually says about grumbling, and the answer might surprise you. It's not just a bad habit or a personality flaw. According to the Bible, grumbling is a heart issue tied directly to unbelief — and God hears every single one. From the Israelites in the wilderness to one sentence straight from the mouth of Jesus, we're walking through eight scriptures that reveal what's really underneath our complaints and what it looks like to choose trust instead. This one is honest, a little convicting, and completely necessary. Come as you are.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

The Lord is me again. Fix my heart and fix my mouth. Fix this mess, I'm in. Yeah. I hear you. You ready for the work though?

SPEAKER_02 0:20

I'm ready.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Didn't think it was gonna hurt. Where? Where I let my spirit burn. We skipping steps. It's the work now.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

I said that's not me, Lord.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Girl, that's you. I hear my flesh, but I answered the guy.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Hey, welcome back to Me Again God, the podcast for women who knew him, left pieces behind, and are starting over. I'm your host, Charlene Condu, and today we're going into something I think is gonna affect everyone listening. As a matter of fact, I know it will. This has changed my life. We're talking about grumbling. I keep hearing and reading the word grumbling as I listen to sermons and read the Bible. I see and hear myself looping about issues. I let my thoughts go to these situations. I thought it out over and over, and then I talk it to death with Jason. I find myself stuck in a cycle. So I open up my concordance and I look up grumbling. And oh my gosh, I could instantly see why I was convicted to research this. It was very powerful reading. Grumbling doesn't always sound like complaining out loud. Sometimes it sounds like a quiet resentment you carry around. Sometimes it sounds like a thought that starts with, I can't believe, or after everything I've done, or nobody even noticed, that's still grumbling. And scripture has a whole lot to say about it. So go grab your coffee, settle in, and let's just be honest today. Here's where I want to start because context matters. The Bible gives us a front row seat to one of the most dramatic stories of provision in human history. The Israelites delivered from Egypt miraculously, spiritually. God literally split a sea for them. And three days later, they were complaining about the water. I'm not judging them, truly I'm not, because I have been delivered, and I've still found something to murmur about before the week was out. But God takes this seriously, and that's what I want us to sit with today. In the book of Numbers, chapter 14, verse 27, it says this, and it's a little uncomfortable, at least for me. How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. He heard it. Every single complaint, not just the prayers, the complaints too. And then 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 10 picks that story back up in the New Testament and says, And do not grumble as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. I know that's heavy. But Paul isn't trying to scare us, he's trying to wake us up. Grumbling isn't just an annoyance, it's a spiritual condition, and it has consequences. Here's why. Because Psalms 106, verses 24 through 25, it connects the dots for us. Talking about those same Israelites, it says, they despised the pleasant land, they did not believe his promise, they grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord. Grumbling is tied to unbelief. It's not just words, it's what the words reveal about what's happening in your heart. When we grumble, we are, whether we mean to or not, telling God, I don't trust that you've got this. That one right there is the thing I needed to hear. Here's another thing about grumbling that the Bible does not let us off the hook for. And this is the one that got me. Exodus 16:8. Moses is dealing with the people yet again. It says, You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord. Okay, so think about the last time you complained. Maybe it was about your job, your finances, your family situation. Maybe it was about something your church did or didn't do. Maybe it was about the traffic, the weight, the outcome that didn't go the way you planned. You weren't grumbling at God, were you? No. You were just venting, expressing, processing out loud. For me, I would justify by saying this is a situation I have never dealt with before, and I'm trying to make it make sense. When we grumble about our circumstances, we are at the root questioning the God who allowed those circumstances, and that is not a small thing. Now listen, I want to be clear. Job did. Even Jesus, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That's raw. That's real. God does not need us to pretend. James 5:9 says, Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The judge is standing at the door. James is talking about grumbling at people, not just at circumstances in this one. This is the one I had to do some real work on. Because when I'm frustrated with God, it doesn't always come out as frustration with God. It comes out as frustration with the person in front of me, the person who didn't do what I expected, the one who didn't show up the way I needed, the one who seemed to have it easier, the one who got what I was waiting for. That's grumbling too. And James says when we put ourselves in the seat of judgment over another person, when we decide they're the problem, the reason, the obstacle, we've stepped into a place that isn't ours to occupy. The judge is standing at the door, not us. I want to be a woman who can hold hard things without letting them turn into resentment. And that is only possible when I keep bringing my disappointments back to God instead of dropping them at someone else's feet. Now, here's the one that really gets me. 1 Peter 4 9. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. The without grumbling is doing a lot of work in that sentence, ladies, because Peter isn't talking to people who are refusing to serve. The people who are showing up. They're cooking the meal, they're opening the house, they're doing the thing. But they're doing it with this little edge underneath it. I can't believe I'm the only one who, or nobody ever helps me when. And God says that still matters. Even when you're doing the right thing, your heart posture in the doing of it still matters. Obedience was with resentment is still a heart issue. Service with bitterness is still something God sees. He wants more for us than going through the motions. He wants us free. And then there's John 643. The disciples are grumbling among themselves about something Jesus said, something hard, something they didn't understand. And Jesus simply says, stop grumbling among yourselves. No long speech, no parable, no sermon, just stop. I love that about him. Because sometimes we don't need a five-step process. We need someone who loves us enough to just say, stop, come back to me. That's Jesus. Cutting through the noise. Calling us back to trust. So here's what I want to leave you with. Philippians 2, 14 through 15 says, do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. Grumbling dims your light. That's the plain truth of it. We are living in a world that is loud with complaint. Social media is complaint, news cycles are complaint, dinner tables are complaint, and God is calling us. As women who love Him, who are starting over, who are fighting to get back to who he made us to be, He is calling us to be different. Not perfect, not pretending, not pasting a smile over our pain, but choosing in the middle of hard to trust the one who sees the whole picture, to bring our frustrations to him before they become resentment, to let him be big enough for what we're carrying. That's what it looks like to shine. So here's your homework this week. Just one thing. Catch the grumble before it gets two words. When you feel that familiar frustration rising, that I can't believe, or nobody ever, just stop. Take a deep breath. And before you say a word to anyone else, say it to him first. Bring it to God. Not because you have to, but because he can actually do something with it. Might as well turn the complaint into a conversation. If this episode hit home, share it with somebody who needs it. Leave a review, drop a comment, let me know how God is moving in your life. If this episode encouraged you today, you can find my books, podcasts, and now my music on all major platforms by searching Charlene Condu or visiting Me Again God. And seriously, thank you for supporting this Deaf Girl Making Music. Only God could write that story. And the intro and outro to this podcast was little snippets from my song Grumble Baby. That's on the album Me Again God. And that's streaming everywhere on Apple Music, Spotify. And uh if you can't find it, just ask me. I'm really proud of it. It was a lot of fun. Until next time. Just enjoy your coffee and your time with Jesus and let it all sink in. Do your reading too. Look it up in the Bible. It's all right there.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

I pray for peace, and 10 minutes later I'm telling my story to end on listening.