Related to the reading
Numbers 20-21
Murmuring seems to come so naturally to the natural man. It crosses the scriptural spectrum of recorded complaints. We need bread. We need water. (See Num. 21:5.) The needed military reinforcements did not arrive. (See Alma 60.) "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" (See Num. 11:20.) "Why did we ever leave Jerusalem?" (See 1 Ne. 2:11.)...
A basic cause of murmuring is that too many of us seem to expect that life will flow ever smoothly, featuring an unbroken chain of green lights with empty parking places just in front of our destinations!
...murmurers have short memories. Israel arrived in Sinai, then journeyed on to the Holy Land though they were sometimes hungry and thirsty. But the Lord rescued them, whether by the miraculous appearance by quail or by water struck from a rock. (See Num. 11:31; Ex. 17:6.) Strange, isn't it, brothers and sisters, how those with the shortest memories have the longest lists of demands! However, with no remembrance of past blessings, there is no perspective about what is really going on.
This powerful verse in the Old Testament reminds us of what is really going on:
"And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no (Deut. 8:2)".
- Elder Neal A. Maxwell, October 1989 General Conference
Deuteronomy 6-8; 15; 18; 29-30; 34
Joshua 1-8; 23-24
Read the scriptures
Read Come Follow Me
Ponder