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The Real Goal

Words of Faith Final

The Real Goal

Words of Faith 6-30-2020

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2020

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Numbers 20

    [6] Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. [7] The Lord said to Moses, [8] "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."

    [9] So Moses took the staff from the Lord's presence, just as he commanded him. [10] He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" [11] Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

    [12] But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."

    [13] These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he showed himself holy among them.

 

         This was always a perplexing story for me.  Moses was getting up in years to be sure, about 120.  He had been in the wilderness for 40 years, essentially waiting for everyone that had been 20 years and older to die off.  They were getting closer to the Promised Land, but now even this new generation was complaining and speaking badly of Moses.

         Moses and Aaron went before the Lord, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.  It seems that this had become a less common sort of communication.  The Lord was very clear in telling Moses to speak to a specific rock and water would pour out. 

         Everything seemed fine until Moses started talking to the people, and 40 years of frustration burst forth.  "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?"   There was no mention of the Lord, only anger toward the people and the implication that he and Aaron were the givers of the water. Rather than speak to the rock as instructed, Moses struck it, not once, but twice. 

         The Lord was faithful to the people and water gushed out of the rock.  But this was a severe offense against the Lord. The judgment was against both Moses and Aaron.  "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."

          Wow.  So...  after years of leading these people out of Egypt and through the wilderness, Moses whacks a rock and is banned from the Promised Land?  He will never enter in?  Isn’t his frustration at least a little bit understandable?  This is harsh.  And perplexing.

          What was going on here?  What was the big sin?  From what the Lord said, it was not the anger or frustration, which so greatly offended the Lord.  The Lord said to Moses, "You did not trust me," and "You did not honor Me as holy in the sight of the Israelites."  As a leader, perhaps more was expected of Moses.  But fundamentally, Moses was acting in the same way the Israelites had.  He was not trusting the instruction of the Lord.  He usurped authority and credit for the miracle.  Rather than build trust in the Lord among the Israelites, Moses actually undermined that trust.

          But most basic of all is that Moses had failed to understand the purpose of this 40-year journey.  The purpose was to build a relationship of complete trust and utter dependence upon the Lord.  It was a lack of such trust that kept the parents and grandparents of these people out of the Promised Land.  Moses had failed to realize that the goal of the journey was not geographical but relational and spiritual.  The goal was a place of trust, and he had failed.

           We can easily lament the fact that Moses never actually set foot into the Promised Land as if he failed to reach the goal of his life.  I am convinced that Moses did reach the goal of his life-- complete trust and utter dependence upon God-- and that this had nothing to do with geography.  Moses will grow from this.

           The truth is that we are not so different.  We often get confused by the geography of life.  We can easily become convinced that God’s goal for us has something to do with achievements, accomplishments, and locations.  The sooner we learn the lesson of Moses, the better. The goals that God has for us in life are much more relational and spiritual than geographical.  The Lord wants you much more than He wants your work, efforts, and achievements "for Him."  The Lord wants to know you and for you to know Him.  He loves you and wants you to love Him.  That is what the journey is all about. 

             Have you been trying hard to get to some "place" in life?  The place God wants you is very near.  It is the place where you surrender to Him in total trust.  It is the place where you don't worry about what God is supposed to be worrying about.  It is the place where you seek His way and His will and walk near to Him.

 

              Father, I don’t want to miss the real goal of my life journey.  I want a relationship of complete trust in You.  I want to walk closely with You.  Where we go is not important to me as long as I am with You.  In Jesus’ name.

 

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2004, 2020

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)       

2820 Business Center Blvd.

Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.