Repeat after me: “God is God, and I am not.”

Moses met with God face to face (Exodus 33:11). He had to wear a veil afterward because his face glowed with the radiance of God’s glory. No wonder he was the most humble man who ever lived. (See Numbers 12:3.) Anyone who has been that close to God, who has heard his voice, and who has experienced his unfiltered presence cannot help but be humbled to his or her very core.

Moses began to think as God thought. He spoke as God spoke. He led in God’s steps. God continually drew him into his profoundly personal presence. The one thing he did not do, and does not do, is share the essence of his glorious being with Moses. 

As good as Moses was, he was not God. He was not even a god. He was a man, a good man, a man who walked with God consciously aware of his immediate presence. 

Reading Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, you begin to notice a pattern. When the going got tough, the people did not get tougher. They whined. They complained. They threatened Moses and Aaron. They declared their desire to return to slavery in Egypt. No wonder Moses went a little crazy in this chapter. 

How many times have you reached the end of your rope and, instead of tying a knot and hanging on, you cut a length of it and started beating everyone in sight? 

Moses experienced a less-than-emotionally healthy moment. He let his emotions control him rather than him controlling them. This never ends well. It ended especially poorly for Moses because he, like the mob he was leading under God’s direction, decided power was more potent than obedience. 

Moses took his own bite of the apple. At that moment, he decided he was more powerful than he really was. God said to speak to the rock (verse 8). Moses struck the rock (verse 11). He had to do it twice even though he used the royal We when he shouted at the caustic crowd. Trying to do God’s will our way takes at least twice as long and leaves us short of God’s intentions for us.

WE are not God. God is God, and WE are not. 

Experience is not the best teacher; evaluated experience is. We find God’s After Action Review in verse 12. 

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.”
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭20‬:‭12‬ ‭CSB‬‬

There are consequences to deliberate disobedience. These consequences are severe even when they are not immediate. Life Lesson Restated Just In Case We Don’t Get It Yet: God is God; I am not. 

God’s will done God’s way in God’s timing blesses us with God’s good provision. Thinking we are God always leaves us short of God’s intended destination for us. 

What is God saying to you today? How closely and how quickly will you obey?

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I will do God’s will God’s way in God’s timing. 

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Our Father, Moses created unnecessary burdens for himself by not following your directions. The blessing he was living for and leading toward was withheld because he chose to be powerful rather than patient and obedient. Remind me as often as necessary to wash feet rather than forcing people to move out of my way. I freely confess, I joyfully declare, you are God, and I am not. Amen.