Wednesday is for Prayer
The Hebrew word for murmur sounds a lot like a murmuring crowd. The ancient Israelites had a big problem with contentment in God. They murmured against their leaders almost endlessly. But God pointed out numerous times that their real murmur was against the living God (cf. 1 Samuel 8 for one example).
But the Israelites are not so different from us. We tend to complain about the smallest slights and infringements of our “rights.” This is the age of demanding our “fair share.” And that’s why this story is so refreshing. And why it is so challenging to our murmuring discontent.
When the novelist, Dr. A. J. Cronin, was a practicing physician in a small Welsh mining community, he worked with a remarkable nurse. For more than twenty years Oliven Davies had served the people with competence, patience, and cheerfulness. Her friend, the doctor, resented the inadequate salary with which her selfless work was rewarded.
“Late one night after a particularly strenuous case, I ventured to protest to her as we drank a cup of tea together. “Nurse,” I said, “why don’t you make them pay you more? It’s ridiculous that you should work for so little.” She raised her eyebrows slightly. But she smiled, “I have enough to get along.” “No really,” I protested and persisted, “you ought to have an extra pound a week at least. God knows you’re worth it.”
“There was a pause. Her smile remained but her gaze held a gravity, an intensity, that startled me. “Doctor!” she said, “if God knows I’m worth it, that’s all that matters!””
—Christian Victory 1
1 Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times.
Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.
“Lord, give us this spirit. That THE MOST important opinion about us and the only one that matters, is yours.”
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