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.

Numbers 20:9-11

Explanation

Here we see Moses’ outburst with the people. Several problems can be seen here.

1. He struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it as God commanded.
2. He took credit for the miracle.
3. He let his anger get out of control.
4. He was as bad as the people were in the attitude they displayed.

Ironically, he was upset at them for having a wrong attitude, and he displayed his displeasure with their attitude with a bad attitude. He was upset with disobedience, and he in responding he was disobedient.

It was natural for Moses to be frustrated with the sinful, disobedient, ungrateful attitude of the people he lead. The problem was that he displayed some of those same qualities but with pride as well. He began to think that he was the solution instead of God. Therefore, he began to take the credit. He assumed his anger was righteous even though it lead to disobedience.

Application

In trying to solve problems as a leader, we must not begin to think that we are the ultimate solutions to all of the problems. In trying to push God’s agenda where we lead we must become self righteous or arrogant. We must not arrogantly be angered. We must be lead missionally, scripturally, and humbly, while at the same time being bold and optimistic.

And most simply stated, we must obey God.

Response

1. Have you ever responded to wrongdoing in kind? Unholy anger with unholy anger? Complaining with complaining? Laziness with laziness?
2. Find a way today to lead those around you to do something scriptural.
3. Is there an area where you are being disobedient? Stop! Repent! Do right!