I would like to say that I am always ready to respond to God’s call with a positive attitude, but that would be far from the truth. There are days when I feel discouraged and beaten down by the world; days when I am fed up with grumbling people complaining about everything. So when I read Numbers 20:1-13, I could relate to how Moses was feeling when God showed him how to provide water to the Israelites.
From the moment Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt he endured endless grumbling, often pointed at him. We see the same old complaints in this chapter: “Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness (verse 3, NIV)? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place (4)?” Why? Why? Why? It is enough to make anyone angry. Who could blame Moses for letting off a little steam?
At first Aaron and Moses responded to these complaints with the right attitude by falling facedown before the Lord at the tent of meeting (6). The Lord appears to them and tells them to take the staff, speak to the rock, and water will pour out “so they and their livestock can drink (8).” However, when Moses gathered the assembly before the rock he snapped and said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock (10)?” Then Moses struck the rock and water gushed out for all to drink (11).
This show of anger was not exactly what God asked Moses to do. In return for this outburst God tells Moses, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them (12).” Because of his actions Moses missed out on the promised land.
Verse 12 caused me to stop and consider how I represent God to those around me. I contemplated what I might be missing by not controlling my anger. Do I trust God enough to follow his ways or do I take matters into my own hands? Do I honor God as holy in the sight of others or do I let my frustration mar my witness to others? I wonder how many times I missed out on blessing others with God’s love and grace because I let my anger guide my actions?
© 2018 CGThelen
#Retrospective: This post originally published June 10, 2018.
140 Character Christian 
This post is very insightful. Great self-examination questions. “Do I honor God as holy in the sight of others or do I let my frustration mar my witness to others?” I want to answer yes to the first half but using the word “frustration” causes me to pause. Hmmm, maybe there are times frustration is a gentler label for anger. (A subtle way of excusing or justifying myself.) So, the question really becomes does my response/reaction to whatever honor God? Thanks.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Praise God that he continues to mentor us; to mature us; to draw us to a deeper relationship with Him. Blessings.
You have given us much to consider that we would rather not but need. Thank you.
May we grow in our trust and faith in God. Thanks for the comment. Blessings
Thanks for this post. I needed it today. I needed to ask myself, “Do I trust God enough to follow his ways or do I take matters into my own hands? ” The message is “Let go – and let God.” Yup, I needed that! Thanks! ❤
May God give us courage to follow His lead. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Blessings.
I wear a shirt that says, “it’s not about me.” but doing exactly that especially with those closest to me is not always the case. Thank God that He is still at work in us all!
Yes, praise God for his patient mentoring of us. Thanks for the comment. Blessings.
Oh, ~groan~ so convicting. God always blesses obedience, why can’t I just always be obedient?? (Rom 7.15)
This passage convicted me on my attitude about obedience. Yes, Romans 7:15 sums it up. Thanks.