“And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”” (Numbers 20:12, ESV)
We must guard ourselves against letting the attitudes and actions of others take us off the path of righteousness and blessing in the Lord’s program. At Meribah, the people complained a seventh time to Moses. This complaint was because they found no water there.
As they found no water there, the Lord instructed Moses to speak to the rock to bring forth water for the people. However, Moses did not do exactly as the Lord had commanded. Instead of speaking to the rock, he struck it twice. This was an act of disobedience. However, perhaps we see Moses’ greatest failure here in his words as he stated, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” It seems from these words that Moses placed the focus for this miracle on him and Aaron rather than the Lord.
One of the most dangerous traps of ministry is to claim for yourself the glory due God. The failure of not giving glory to God has a direct link to disobedience because both are problems of distrust. Here, due to a momentary lapse in his faith walk, Moses failed on both levels.
Prior to this incident the actions of Moses were always that of obedience and intercession for the people. Here the people’s complaining finally drove Moses to a point of weakness and failure. The results of his failure were tragic for Moses. He would never enter the Promised Land for which he had led the people all those miles and in all those years.
As believers, we must be careful. Often the attitudes and actions of those close to us can get us off God’s plan of blessing. It may be their complaints, their lack of faith, their transgressions, their persuasion to get us off the mark, or a host of other things. Before responding to those who get on your last nerve spend time with the Lord in prayer, and keep in mind the repercussions of your response. A response by faith will always result in obedience and glorifying God. A response lacking faith results in disobedience and self-exaltation. A response by faith will keep us on the right path with the Lord, the path of blessing. A response lacking faith will put us off His path and is a formula for failure.
Renewing the Heart 