Week 7 Day 5 – Honor

Numbers 20:1-13

Wow, this is a harsh passage!  How could God come down so hard on Moses for a simple thing like hitting a rock?  After all, Moses had just spent 40 years listening to these people do nothing but whine and complain.  A lesser man would have snapped long before Moses did.  How could God have denied Moses the pleasure of entering in the Promised Land that he had worked so hard to reach?

There are a few lessons in this passage:

1.  Moses sin was not that of hitting the rock.  His sin was in the fact that he did not honor God as holy in the sight of the people.  God’s instructions to Moses were to speak to the rock and it would gush forth water.  (note:  This was probably a natural spring that was dried up at the time).  Notice what Moses did. 

First he said, "listen you rebels".  He had finally slipped into the vengeful place where he began to hate the people.  Up until this point it was Moses that was interceding on behalf of the people to stave off God’s wrath.  Now Moses was burning with wrath against the people.  He began to buy into the idea that this was really all about him. 

Secondly, he said, "must we bring water out of this rock."  Whoa!  Who’s going to bring the water out of the rock?  Moses started believing his own press.  Moses was going to take the credit for the miracle that God was about to perform.  In so doing, Moses had dishonored God by stealing His glory and making this a personal issue between Moses and the people. 

As a leader, it was Moses’ job to stay transparent and allow the people to see the true picture of God through him.  To "honor God as holy" is translated "sanctify," and "set apart" God in other translations.  It is the verb form of the word kadosh which means to "be set apart".  As soon as a leader does not point the glory to God and begins taking credit for God’s work, his ministry is over.

2.  Sin is sin and consequences are consequences, no matter who you are.  In this final act of judgment, God drove home the point to the people that, if Moses could suffer consequences because of sin, then sin must be serious business.  It is a strong temptation for leaders of any level to begin believing that they are above the law;  that the rules don’t apply to them.  We must remember this: in the kingdom of God the gift of leadership is just another one of the many gifts.  We are all members of the body of Christ and there is only one head, Jesus Christ.  The human leader in the church is an important role, but it is not one that is elevated above any others.  That is why Jesus told His disciples that if they wanted to be great in the kingdom of Heaven then they must become least.  A leader is the chief servant.  As soon as a leader in the church begins to buy into the aristocratic models  of leadership upheld in the world’s systems, then they are done for.  The Promised Land of walking in the Kingdom of Heaven in the fullness of truth and unity with God and His people will be out of reach. 

3.  God will accomplish His purposes with or without us.  For every Moses there is a Joshua who is in the wings to fill in the gaps.  It is a danger to believe that one individual is indispensable to the accomplishment of God’s mission in any given circumstance.  Many times we can take on too much responsibility for the health and stability of whatever ministry we are leading, whether it be our family, our relational evangelism in our workplace, our church, etc.  Yes, God expects faithfulness and diligence in whatever assignment He has given us, but when we take on the load of believing that we are absolutely necessary to the success of the ministry, then we have slipped into dangerous territory.  God wants us to experience the joy of serving Him well, but He will not allow us to take the glory and the credit for the work that He is doing.  You can be replaced, don’t forget that.

The last two days of devotionals have been pretty heavy handed, that is true.  Don’t be discouraged, though.  The truth about these heavy devotionals is that, when they are fully realized in your heart, they will bring the most  ultimate sense of peace and fulfillment possible.  Here’s why...God is in control, not you.  God loves you and wants you to experience the fullness of knowing Him.  When we get out of His way and admit that we aren’t smart enough or strong enough to "do" what He wants us to do, but that if we yield ourselves to His strength and "be" available to Him, then we will experience unthinkable joy in serving our King.

Week 7 Day 4 – Mutiny!

Numbers 16:1-17:13

Following God in obedience is a difficult task.  Here is a harsh truth that would serve us all well to remember: when you step out in faith and follow what you feel God is asking you to do, you will almost always be misunderstood by the crowd around you.  Jesus told us that in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.  He said, "Blessed are you when men insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

So, how should we react when we are misunderstood, falsely accused, and abused?  Our natural tendency is to slip into the "fight or flight" instinct and protect ourselves.  Depending on the circumstances and our personality we may either retaliate with a "holier-than-thou" explanation about how WE are actually obeying God while THEY are apathetic sideliners.  Or we may shut down and remove ourselves emotionally from the relationship in order to protect ourselves from the pain.  We may become bitter and resentful towards those people.  Or, we may even begin to resent God for allowing this persecution when we have sacrificed so much to do what He asked us to do.

So how should we react?  We can learn a great lesson from how Moses and Aaron reacted...

1.  They fell on their faces.  To fall on one’s face, in those days, was to place oneself in a position of humble submission to another.  Here Moses and Aaron were the God anointed spiritual and political leaders of the people who were being accused by the "peasantry."  In human standards Moses and Aaron had every right to flex their leadership muscles (which had been given to them by God, remember) and push this rabble back into their places.  But they didn’t. Instead, they humbled themselves before the people and acknowledged that God alone was the leader and that they were merely vessels.  In a sense, they were acknowledging to their accusers that there may be some truth in the accusation and that they were willing to entertain the idea. 

2.  They left the battle up to God.  Moses and Aaron knew this simple truth: if something is ordained by God, then it is going to happen.  If it is not of God, then it won’t.   Here is the trap that many leaders fall into.  We start off by following along with God’s direction.  In the beginning we see that it is God at work and that we are just vessels.  Eventually, though, we can start to take the credit for the things that God is doing, as if it was our cleverness and strategizing that made this thing work.  Then, we begin to attach our identity to the successfulness of the ministry that we are leading and become dependent upon its success to feel good about ourselves.  At that point, if our leadership is challenged, or we are misunderstood, or accused of wrong-doing, we feel personally attacked and our own sense of self-worth and identity is at stake.  With those lenses on it becomes very easy to start fighting back against our assailants.

Moses and Aaron believed that God had appointed them to be the leaders.  If this accusation was true, and God was now ready to remove them from leadership, then there was nothing they could do about it.  If this accusation was false, then God would make it clear to everyone who He wanted to be the leaders and who he didn’t.

3.  If we leave it up to Him to fight the battles, then He will make truth clear in the end.  In the end of this story the rabble-rousers were swallowed up by the Earth.  That is not generally how God does it any more when we are falsely accused.  However, if we step out of the way and let our accusers run their course, they will eventually be swallowed up by their own selfish and sinful motives and desires and be exposed for who they really are.

So, the next time you are misunderstood or falsely accused, take a deep breath and ...

1.  ask yourself, "Is there any truth in what these accusers are saying?"  If yes, then thank them for exposing a blind spot in your life and repent of it.

2.  If no, then turn the other cheek to them and allow God to defend you.  You just stick to the agenda that God has given you and don’t let nay-sayers and rabble-rousers set your agenda for you.

3.  Remember that this is God’s agenda and not yours.  If at anytime God wants to give you new marching orders, then so be it.  You are just along for the ride!  All glory belongs to Him anyway.