On Wilderness Wisdom #1...

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So I’ve been reading Exodus through to Deuteronomy over the past few months, and have stumbled across various perceptive nuggets of insight from the wilderness wanderings of the (in)famous motley family troupe. These gems were learned the hard way most of the time, if at all! More like “Truth Bombs” as MD would say! It’s a collection that I call “Wilderness Wisdom”...

Tried And True? God Doesn't Think So!

Most times I live on the basis of tried and true methods. If something has worked for me in the past, I’d rather follow that pattern again, than risk a newfangled one. But God, being the Creative One, doesn't think so!

In Numbers 20:8-12, God commands Moses to “speak” to a rock for it to yield its water. This was the second instance of water being brought forth from a rock. Earlier, Moses had been instructed to “strike” the rock, and water had gushed forth. Piece of cake, wouldn't you say? This time should have been easy. He had done it before after all; he could follow the same method again. Tried and true! It ought to have worked. And in a way it did, in that the people’s thirst was quenched. Unfortunately, it didn't in the way that truly mattered!

This second time, I think several factors compounded themselves to force Moses to make the worst mistake of his life. He was irritated with his grumbling relatives and their incessant complaining. His elder sister had just passed away and he was still grieving. But the most important factor was that he did not “believe” that talking to a rock was going to achieve anything! God pulls him up short for that, in spite of the water that was produced.

“...you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel...”*

God was concerned about Moses’ underlying unbelief rather than the miracle of water gushing from a rock. In my life too, God sees my intentions and motives rather than the outward spirituality...I wonder, would He be disappointed?

God calls us to believe and obey – even when it means stepping outside the tried and true into unknown territory. Comfort zones and experience aren't what God has called us to live by. Choosing them is as good as saying I don’t believe God!

*Numbers 20:12

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