Self-reliant or God-reliant
Numbers 20:7-12 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, [8] Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. [9] And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. [10] And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? [11] And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. [12] And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
Think of all Moses has seen in all his years leading the people in the wilderness. From leading them out of Egypt to the point they are now. On multiple occasions he has listened to them murmur and complain against God. He has seen them build a golden calf. We see in times past he went to God, sought an answer from the Lord and then carried out what God had instructed. In our text today we see the people have come into the desert of Zin. They have no water and once again go unto Moses and begin to complain about bringing them out of Egypt just to die in the wilderness. Aaron and Moses go before the Lord and we find the Lords answer in 8. Moses is instructed to speak to the rock to get water. Not only does he not speak to the rock he asks the people a question in vs. 10. “Must we fetch you water…?” He’s not even giving God the credit for giving them the water. He then proceeds to strike the rock twice. God still blesses and the water comes out abundantly. However, we see in vs. 12 that Moses will now not bring them into the land God has promised them. An act of self-reliance cost Moses an opportunity to lead the people to the land God had given them. It can be hard to stay completely reliant on God. It can become even tougher if we listen to those around us. It is in our nature to want to rely on ourselves in difficult situations. We can begin to feel as if we know what’s best. We might even see God still bless in our self-reliance, but there will be consequences down the road when we aren’t relying on Him. God knows what is best for our lives at all times, not just when it’s convenient to rely on Him. We can’t have mountain top reliance so to speak. Are you fully reliant on God at all times or do you find yourself experiencing more and more times of self reliance?
God bless you today! Bro. Josh Richardson
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