I had a recent discussion with someone about this character Moses.  They asked me why God dealt with Moses in such a tough way.  They were referring the situation in Numbers 20:1-13 where Moses was told by God to speak to the rock to have water come out of it for the people to drink.   Moses instead hit the rock with his staff and disobeyed God.  He had an anger issue.  God dealt with him by taking away the dream Moses had of leading his people the Israelites into the Promise Land.

   If you think about it God did deal with this situation in a way that he may not have done with just anyone, but this was God’s chosen leader to lead his people.  I mean Moses had done a pretty good job up to this point so why would God come done on him by taking away his lifelong dream?  I don’t have the all the answers here but three things pop into my head:

·         Moses was a leader.  Not just any leader but the leader of God’s chosen people the one that they looked to as a representative of God.  So God held him to a higher standard.

·         Secondly he not only disobeyed and was angry but he dishonored the Lord in this by failing to trust Him to do as he said.  Numbers 20:12

·         Lastly disobedience by children of the Lord always leads to the Lord’s discipline! Proverbs 3:12

How does this apply to me?  Whether I am a great leader as Moses or not I need to recognize that the consequences for my actions are usually worse than I realize and they affect more than just me!  I need to stop and think before I act on my anger.  I need to live out James 1:19 (NIV), “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

My sin is never worth my broken dreams!