Don’t Take Matters Into Your Own Hands | Morning Routine Daily Devotional for March 23

Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” – Numbers 20:10-12 ESV

 In the Hebrew Bible, the book of Numbers is called “In the Wilderness.” The book details the events in the wilderness after Israel fled from Egypt. The Israelites, wandering about in the wilderness, frequently complained about their situation. How quickly they forgot that they were in the wilderness because God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt. In fact, the plan was for them to receive the land that God had promised to Abraham in Genesis 12. Their wandering shows that the Lord is working, though His promises have not yet been realized.

In today’s text, when the people complained that they had no water, the Lord instructed Moses to assemble the people, speak to the rock, and the water would gush forth. But that isn’t exactly what Moses and Aaron did; instead of speaking to the rock, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff. Close enough, right? Wrong. And as a result, because of his disobedience, the Lord punished him; Moses was forbidden from entering the land for which he spent 40 years of his life waiting.

The point for today is when God gives leaders instruction, He isn’t looking for us to make the plan better by modifying it. Our faith is faith when we trust God. Whether you’re a parent, educator, or church leader, ask God to use you to influence for good those to whom he’s given you responsibility. And then obey Him, don’t take matters into your own hands.