Have you ever caught yourself “talking to yourself”?   Maybe someone else has caught you and asked “who are you talking to”, and you realize you are speaking out loud what you were thinking.   Sometimes that can create a problem because someone has heard words that we didn’t really want them to hear.  Or perhaps we DID want them to hear but not really wanting to confront an issue directly, we result to murmuring about the issue.  That is not a good way to handle anything.  The dictionary describes murmur as a low indistinct, often continuous sound, and a muttered complaint.  To mutter means to speak with a low voice and to grumble.  Ever been there?  We all have at some time or another.  The question is what to do about it.

From my own experience, my murmuring comes from a frustration over an issue or circumstance that seems to not get better but worse or just plain seems too hard to overcome.  But if we listen to that reasoning we are defeating ourselves; mostly because it is a lie, a lie that is meant to distract us from the real problem; that we have gotten our eyes off of Jesus.   We were spending too much time looking at the problem and not enough time looking at Jesus and the solution that we find in His Word.   It’s all about where we are putting our focus – on ourselves, and on others, or on God.  

God takes this murmuring thing very serious.  The Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron (Exodus 15:24; 16:2; 17:3; Numbers 14:2; 16:41 to mention a few references); and Number 14:27 tells us that God considered that murmuring against them as murmuring against Him.

There are different ways we can murmur, did you know that?   There is the kind we do in our homes as mentioned in Deuteronomy 1:27; when we think no one is listening.  Then there is the kind done openly in public that others hear when talking to ourselves  as we read in John 7:32.  Oh, and of course there is the murmuring we do when talking to each other as Jesus teaches us in John 6:43.

Also, I think pride can be part of the problem.  Pride causes us to think that we “don’t deserve” what is happening or what we think is going wrong.  Pride will cause us to make excuses for our own behavior, words, and even our faith level.  We humans just never ever want to admit that sometimes, just maybe sometimes, we might be wrong, and or need help.  But that’s a big problem.  If we never see ourselves as needing help, how then can we receive help from others or even from God.  We must humble ourselves.  We must be conscious of the fact that we do make mistakes; that sometimes we just aren’t our best.  But rather than murmur about it, we need to concentrate on the solution for it.  The solution is found in Jesus, the Word.  When we read and learn His Word, it will change us from that darkness of murmuring into His marvelous Light.

1 Peter 2:9  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

To marvel is something that causes wonder or astonishment; intense surprise or interest, or amazed curiosity.  Marvelous means of the highest kind or quality.  As children of God, we are made of the highest kind of quality-Jesus Himself.  We sometimes surprise and astonish the world because of how we live our lives and the basis on which we make decisions – all based in our relationship with God and His Word.  We sometimes take the world by surprise with our boldness to stand up for what we believe.   Our attitudes and motives should ALWAYS be of the highest quality – the love of Christ in us.  This is our goal: that the love of Christ in us will peak curiosity in those around us to WANT to know this God whom we serve.

The choice is up to us.  Each day gives us opportunities to be murmurous or to be marvelous.  When we speak murmurous words over a situation we are allowing our flesh to do the talking, and it will always be negative with not-so-good results.  When we speak the marvelous words of LIGHT (God’s Word) over the same situation we are allowing the Power of God to do the talking which will always be positive with good results.

Each day we have opportunity to speak murmurous words of complaint or to speak marvelous words of the Light of God’s Word.  The choice is ours.   I choose to be marvelous, what about you?