by: Rev. Leon Aguilera
Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us
water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me?
wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? And the people thirsted there for water; and
the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast
brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with
thirst? And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this
people? they be almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on
before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod,
wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will
stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock,
and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did
so in the sight of the elders of Israel. (Exodus 17:2-6 KJV)
What do you do when you and those you are helping
encounter a time when basic needs are unmet? Whether we lead or follow others,
complete dependence on the Lord is essential. Recently, we discussed the assumptions that
must be made when leading or helping others in stressful times like these. This
time we will deal with the actions which must be taken to
effectively lead others during this situation. These actions include: passing
responsibility on to God; reminding others of how God perceives a situation and
how it’s up to Him to respond to it; and crying out to God for guidance.
In Exodus 17, we see Moses in Rephadim, with
the Israelites, at a time when they lacked water. Moses responded to their
remarks against him saying, “Why chide ye with me?” He simply passed
responsibility on to God. The Jews, at this time, were still young believers
and didn’t fully understand that Moses wouldn’t be the source of water. Often,
we place a false dependence on the person, in our lives, that strongly
influences us for the Lord, instead of properly depending on God. Moses passed
the buck! Remember, God had brought them there, not Moses. Effective leaders
bring God into the equation and do not make excuses for following Him, nor the
direction of His leading.
Why do we blame others? One never wants to be
accused of chiding (contending/quarreling) with God. However, we often pick out
the human leader representing God and chide with him/her.
Next, Moses reminded the people of how God felt
about the situation, as well as how God was responding to it. Immaturity often
surfaces as one focuses attention on the placement of blame. The Jews were
reminded that God was being tempted by their provocation. Moses said that God
was becoming upset with their actions, as out of desperation they thought of
stoning him. What provoked God was the fact that the Israelites neglected to
rely on Him and come to Him first. Despite this, Moses cried out to God. God
can lead others to meet our needs even if they are not privy to the specifics.
The last action in effectively leading others
is to cry out to the Lord. In Exodus 17:4, “Moses
cried unto the Lord saying, “What shall I do unto this people? they be almost
ready to stone me.” He could have said, “Why didn’t you just let me
continue to be a shepherd? Moses, however, was much more mature than that. He
was a problem solver. He said, “Lord, what can I do? How can I help this
situation?” In your life, when you see a problem, do you merely complain or are
you one to find a solution. Moses was a mature Christian. He didn’t ask how or
why, but what he could do to solve the problem. When he was put under pressure,
he didn’t complain. He went to the Lord, and implemented God’s instruction.
Moses had a clear responsibility to identify the need and act on it. It wasn’t
enough to just pray, he had to demonstrate biblical faith.
It took a lot of faith to strike the rock with
his staff at Horeb. We knew water would come out, but Moses didn’t. He had to
exercise extreme faith. God told Moses to go before the people and take the
elders of Israel. God understood that the older people would be a great
influence on the youth. The Lord wanted people to witness the water spewing
from the rock. Those that would witness this would be great spokesmen for God
with respect to trusting and following Him. People in old Hebrew society had
great respect for the elders. God wanted Moses to get these elders on board so
they may get the “followship” of the other people. It’s important that the
people with responsibility are eye witnesses to the miraculous hand of God.
Even today, this is what hinders churches. The members fail to see the
supernatural hand of God personally. As a result, they often lose the zeal and
commitment needed to be effective in Christ.
As important as it is for me to see the hand of
God providing, it’s of utmost importance for the young generation to be put to
the test and experience supernatural provision for themselves. We will stagnate
when we lose a generation of people committed to living by faith and seeing the
hand of God in action.
Finally, we need faithful obedience, unto the
Lord. To accomplish this effectively, we need to take action. We
must pass responsibility on to God, remind others of God’s perception of a
particular situation, and cry out for His guidance. Following this plan of
action in your life, just as at the rock, you will see that great needs are met
by faith.
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