He was
frustrated. He was angry. He was tired of being blamed for everything that went
wrong. Year after year, he had gotten them through one disaster after another.
He was continually interceding on their behalf to keep them out of trouble. But
all he got for his efforts was more grief. Finally, in exasperation, he said,
“Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” (Num. 20:10).
That
suggestion might sound preposterous, but it wasn’t. Forty years earlier, the
previous generation had the same complaint: no water. God told Moses to strike
a rock with his staff (Ex. 17:6). When he obeyed, water gushed out—plenty of water.
When the grumbling started again so many years later, Moses did the thing that
worked before. But this time it was the wrong thing to do. What Moses told the
Israelites to do—to listen—he himself had not done. God had told him to speak
to the rock this time, not strike it.
Sometimes
in exhaustion or exasperation, we don’t pay close attention to God. We assume He
will always work the same way. But He doesn’t. Sometimes He tells us to act;
sometimes He tells us to speak; sometimes He tells us to wait. That is why we
must always be careful to listen before we take action.
Sometimes God tells us to
act; sometimes He tells us to speak; sometimes He tells us to wait. (RBC)
