I am smack dab in the middle of a bible study called "The Armor of God" by Priscilla Shirer. I have studied quite a bit about the Armor of God over the years. There were JBQ questions about it. My friend Grace taught us all a song to sing every morning as we put on our armor. Having said that, I highly recommend this study. It is all about putting an action plan together on how to combat the attacks of the enemy.
While working on this study, she showed me something about Moses that I had never considered before. It was pretty eye opening so I thought I would share it with all of you.
Every time I have ever read that story, I always assumed that Moses only struck the rock out of frustration. That very well may have been the case but my bible study showed me another perspective. If you go back to Exodus 17 when the Israelites were back in Horeb. They were grumbling and complaining asking for water much like they would later do in Meribah. The Lord told Moses in Exodus 17:6, "...and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink....".
In case you missed it, in the past, God had asked Moses to strike the rock to bring the water so I can imagine it would be an easy mistake to strike the rock again. Don't we always tend to do what has worked for us in the past. I mean, c'mon, at one point Moses was acting out of obedience to strike the rock, but the next time he struck it, he was banned from entering the Promised Land with the Israelites?
I started to think back to the times that I have leaned on God's previous instructions to handle a current situation. I had a situation in the past where one of my employees thought that I wasn't qualified for a promotion that I had received. He was pretty vocal about his opinions and tried to push against my authority at every level. I prayed about how to handle the situation and the Lord made it clear that I was to stand my ground and explain to this employee why I was given the role and how it would benefit him to work together with me to make our department successful. It was a hard tough conversation but by the time I had left the company, I had gained his respect and his friendship.
Fast forward to a more recent experience where I had been given some new authority at my job. One of my co-workers was obviously unhappy about the situation. I relied on my past experience and decided that I would stand my ground and explain to this guy how it would benefit him and how we should work together. This was the exact wrong approach. Things went from bad to worse. In desperation, I went to Lord and asked Him why this guy was being such a jerkface to me. God made it very clear that I was just to leave him be, that this man would come around but not if I continued to force the issue. He is coming around. Funny thing, God's plan is working.
See the problem was, that I didn't take this new situation to the Lord and await His instruction. I thought, "been there, done this" and I figured I had it under control. I am learning that every situation is different. Every person is different. Every environment is different. We can never know all of the aspects of a given situation so we must rely on the One who does.
What current situation are you dealing with in the same way that God has asked you to deal with it in the past? Is it possible that you need to take it to Him to get new instructions? Just something to think about.
