Satan will use murmuring and complaining against God to defeat you. Murmuring is an outward expression of unbelief. It reveals a lack of trust in God's goodness, His love, and His provision.

There are many Christians today who have fallen into this snare of the enemy. When they face problems in their finances, in their families, or on the job, instead of trusting God — believing that He will meet their need, and praising Him for what He has already done and is going to do for them — they begin to murmur. They may not speak it audibly, but in their hearts they are thinking, “Why has God allowed this to happen to me? I'm tired of never having enough money to meet our needs. Why do our children always have to do without things they want? Why doesn't God answer and meet our needs? Has He forgotten us?”

On the job they murmur about the amount of work they have. They murmur and grumble about their salaries, the working conditions, and that they aren't being treated fairly.

The Israelites murmured about the carnal desires and appetites of their flesh. They were not satisfied with the manna God provided for them. They were ungrateful for what God gave them and longed for the fish, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic they had enjoyed in Egypt.

Today, there are Christians who murmur about the type of food they have to eat. They murmur about their lack of clothes, the type of car they drive, their furniture, or the house they live in. We must recognize murmuring as a trick of the enemy to keep us living in defeat. When we murmur, we are doubting God's provision and care for us. Moses told the Israelites, “The Lord has heard your grumblings which you murmur against Him, what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord” (Exodus 16:8, TAB). When we murmur and grumble, we are not murmuring against people or circumstances. We are murmuring against God and He hears us. Not only does He hear us, but our unbelief hinders us from acting in faith upon His promises and we cannot receive what we need.

Paul used the example of the Israelites to warn the Corinthians not to grumble. He said, “And do not grumble, as some of them did and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:10-11, NIV). Just as murmuring kept the Israelites out of the Promised Land, murmuring and complaining will keep you from entering the spiritual dimension of God's rest where there is blessing, provision, power, and victory.

I will learn from the example of Israel. Words of murmuring and complaining are no longer part of my vocabulary.