Spoken With Love: Week 4 Day 4
Exodus 17:1-7
The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”
3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Anyone who aspires to be a leader should read Moses’ whole story; leading people can be so difficult. In Moses’ life when things were great, the Israelites loved him. Well, most loved him, sometimes others were jealous and made life even harder for the shepherd leader. When things were difficult, however, the people were inconsolable. They were quick to blame, and had very short memories of the good that God and Moses had done for them. I can hear the desperation in Moses’ voice when he cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people?” (Exodus 17:4).
God chose to remind the people that He had appointed Moses as their leader. He did it through a familiar display of His power through Moses’ staff. We are all leaders and followers at some point. If you are leading others, this is a reminder to rely on God’s power, not your own. If you are struggling as a follower, let this be a reminder that God is in control, and He appoints who He desires, whether you approve or not. Submission to God’s will is required of everyone, leaders and followers, and that submission occurs first in our hearts, between us and the Lord.