After hearing Gabe preach on Growing in Humility, I had to ask God to search my heart and see if there was any pride in me that needed to be removed. As we grow in maturity, let us make every effort to grow in humility and to allow God to convict our hearts so that we may be teachable and receive whatever the Lord has for us.
During my devotional time I was reading Numbers 20 and God was highlighting to me some of the ways in which I was being prideful.
When the Israelites complained to Moses and Aaron about not having water, Moses and Aaron sought the Lord in how to deal with this situation as they normally do.
God gave them instructions: 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
So Moses and Aaron left the tent of meeting to go and execute the Lord’s commands. It says “9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.”
The whole community and their livestock drank their fill of water but something went wrong because in verse 12 it says, “12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “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.”
So what exactly went wrong? The people complained about not having water, Moses and Aaron inquired of the Lord, Moses and Aaron got the water out of the rock and the people were satisfied. What went wrong was the level of Obedience to God. What went wrong was the lack of trust when it came to executing God’s instructions. Let me show you.
Although the water gushed out for the people and their livestock to drink, it wasn’t how God wanted it to happen. First God told Moses to grab the staff and with Aaron assemble the people. Verse 9 indicates that this was the only thing Moses did that God commanded. Everything else that follows is of his own doing.
After assembling the people Moses says to them “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then he raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff and water gushed out. Now I’ve heard people say that Moses was mad at the people because of their constant complaints, as you can kind of tell when he calls them rebels, and as a result of his anger he struck the rock twice which disqualified him from leading the people into the land He promised them. But when I look at verse 12 it says that Moses and Aaron didn’t TRUST in God ENOUGH to HONOR Him as HOLY in the sight of the Israelites. So how did Moses and Aaron do this exactly?
Let’s look at what He said after assembling the people, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Could it be that Moses and Aaron took away the opportunity for God to be Honored and seen as Holy in the sight of the Israelites by saying that THEY would be the ones to bring water out of the rock? Or maybe it was the fact that God told them to speak to the rock for water to come out and Moses decided to raise his arm and strike the rock twice instead to get the water out?
As I began to ask myself why did Moses raise his arm and strike the rock twice instead of speaking to the rock like God had instructed him. He already followed His first set of instructions with acquiring the staff for assembly so why not follow through with the rest?
The Holy Spirit reminded me of Exodus 17 where Moses and the Israelites were in a similar situation where there was no water to drink. In this particular case, Moses inquired of the Lord and this is what the Lord said, “5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”
God gave Him instructions to strike the rock so that water would come out for the people to drink. Can I suggest to you that maybe the reason why Moses didn’t follow God’s commands was because he was relying on what God had done in the past? Could it be that Moses put his trust in what he knew worked before rather than what God was telling him to do now?
When Gabe talked about growing in Humility he warned us to watch out for things that could lead us to pride: Our Knowledge, our Possessions, our Abilities, our Power, our Youthfulness, our Achievements and even our Culture. God began showing me how these things in my life hindered me from being humble.
I am reminded that sometimes we can be like Moses and rely on our knowledge of a similar situation (getting water from a rock), our abilities and power (using the staff), and even past achievements (raising his arms to win a battle – Exodus 17:8-16) rather than relying on God and trusting what He is asking us to do. God’s not looking for 99% Obedience. No, He wants all 100% of it.
As we Make Every Effort to Mature and Grow in Humility, let us put our eyes and ears to the Lord and ask Him to search our hearts.
Father, We are in awe of your grace and mercy that you chose to give us. We ask that you would forgive us for relying on anything other than you. We ask that you would teach us how to trust you with our lives and to show us how to surrender ourselves into your hands. Help us to be obedient sons & daughters, who will follow you and do your will. Search our hearts and make us whole once again. Help us to seek you when we are in need and give us the boldness and courage to do whatever it is that you ask of us. We need you God, you deserve all the Glory. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!