When Failure and Victory Collide What then?

 

In this wilderness journey, the people come again to Kadesh.  38 years they had wandered through the desert.  As God led him, Moses led despite their grumbling, bitter, faithless attitudes.  With great humility, Moses demonstrated to the people to always seek God for the answer.  It was God’s Glory that stood front and center in Moses’ heart.  He grew weary at times; yet, when push came to shove, he remained always willing to sacrifice himself for the people.  Then, in a moment of utter frustration we see Moses lose his temper and disobey God as he struck the rock.  His order had been to speak to the rock in God’s name. Water came forth; however, Moses would not be allowed into the promised land.  So, when failure and victory collide, what then?

Oh certainly, we can empathize with Moses.  From the last time they stood here on the precipice of entering the promised land until now 38 years had passed.  They had been forced to wander in the wilderness, burying their dead.  Imagine burying over a million people.  All of this because of their lack of faith, their bitter grumbling, and their failure to worship God, though He had guided them every step of the journey.  God had provided everything they needed from shelter to food.  He organized everything to provide protection; yet, they failed to honor God.  Their failure and grumbling against God led to their being turned back into the wilderness. Now here they stood once more, nearly ready to enter and once more they began the grumbling.  Imagine the frustration of Moses.  Was this to be another failure?  Could failure and Victory Collide, still displaying God’s Glory?

Ah, but there was more to this story.

When Failure and Victory Collide, God

Moses, we could say was still mourning his sister’s death when the people began to grumble about their lack of water.  They didn’t bow before God to ask for His provision.  Instead, they murmured to Moses.  He and Aaron went before God.

(They bowed) down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak[m] to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth[n] its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.” (Numbers 20:6-8 NET). 

          Yet, when Moses went back out before the crowd, failure and victory collide.  Failure on the part of Moses to follow the instructions, yet victory in that God provided the water anyway.

Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels,[o] must we bring[p] water out of this rock for you?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly (Numbers 20:10-11).

Notice, Moses did not “God will provide and speak to the rock as instructed, demonstrating God’s mercy.  Instead he said, “must WE bring water”.  Once before Moses had struck a rock for water.  But the rock was to be a symbol of Christ who was struck only once for our sins.  Moses missed that and he disobeyed God.

So, what are the lessons for us from Numbers 20?

LESSONS WHEN FAILURE AND VICTORY COLLIDE
  1. God is faithful to accomplish all that He has planned, despite our failures. The salvation of the people was not dependent on Moses; but God only. When failure and victory collide, it is God’s victory despite our failure.
  2. No one can lead us into the promised land but God Himself. Jesus, God Incarnate, came to live among us, to die and to pay the penalty for our sin. He said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life.[b] No one comes to the Father except through ” (John 14:6).  Only through Jesus Christ, can we be saved.
  3. Moses, after all, though very faithful was just a man; not the Savior. Perhaps God allowed Moses to fail so that we nor the people would worship Moses instead of God. Was that fair?  Yes! Besides, we must know we are never so righteous ourselves that we cannot fail in our own strength.  Indeed, in our own strength we will fail.
  4. Although our failures may prevent our reaching success here on earth, we have a heavenly home awaiting. Moses saw that when God called Aaron home and said, “Aaron will be gathered to his ancestors.”  This phrase indicated that Aaron went to be with God.
  5. Furthermore, when Jesus stood on the mount of transfiguration, Moses stood there with Him. Not only did Moses go to heaven, but at that moment with Jesus, Moses stood on the promised land. Then two men, Moses and Elijah, began talking with him (Jesus). 31 They appeared in glorious splendor and spoke about his departure that he was about to carry out at Jerusalem (Luke 9:30-31 NET).  Moses knew that Jesus was going to die on the cross to pay the price for all sin, even his!  Think of that!
Concluding thoughts:

Wherever you are along this journey, never forget God is there.  He is Sovereign, don’t let your guilt and your sorrow remain.  Run to the foot of the cross and know this, Jesus is there always making intercession for you.  Men will fail you, but God will never fail you. He is the Joy, the Hope, and the Victory you so long for.

DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD?

If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you to go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link.  There is nothing more important than this; because,  He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.

PREVIOUSLY

A Broken Heart, Grace and the Lesson of Obedience

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Disclosures

©Effie Darlene Barba, 2019
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

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Photo by Tomáš Malík on Unsplash

New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

 

A Broken Heart, Grace and the Lesson of Obedience

 

How quick we are to judge these people for their lack of faith, their failures and their failures to follow God’s commands.  After all, hadn’t they seen God’s goodness demonstrated so many times?  What about us?  When will we get it right or fully understand?  So often I have through the years been in one way or another in their place of rebellion or fear.  With the greatest treasure right before me, I stumbled.  Then there I lay with a broken heart.  Once more I stood alone in the wilderness of life.  But there it was, the Grace of God reached forth to me every time.  Somewhere amid the darkest moments of sorrow, He came and taught me a lesson of obedience I could never have learned otherwise.  With His sweeping Hand of Grace and Love, He restored my hope, my faith, and my joy.

It was always easy to find a million excuses to overlook my sin.  Afterall look how the Bible is filled with men and their failures.  Perhaps this is the best God has for me and I can never hope for anything else?  Well, after all I am only human, what can you expect?  It was such a moment as that, when I came face to face with the depth of my own brokenness and the magnitude of God’s grace.  That was when I wrote A Broken and Contrite Heart.  With all that I had learned, one would think that would be the end of my stumbling.  But, alas, it was not.

A Broken Heart

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How Can A Bitter Spirit Lead to Devastating Loss?

So, it was I awoke Monday morning with a bitter spirit.  At first, I didn’t really recognize it.  Afterall I had gotten up, studied my Bible, begun to think of the lesson for next week’s class, and prepare for a new week at work.  Lunch boxes and breakfast were ready. Then I got the grandchildren up to get ready for school and realized the trash needed taking out, there were clothes to fold, and the kitty litter needed cleaning. Suddenly, there it was!  I began to grumble, “Why am I the only one to clean the kitty litter, it isn’t even my cat?”  “No one else folds clothes, goes to the grocery store and now no one is taking out the trash and I have to!”  Have you ever done that?  But can a bitter spirit lead to devastating loss?

Of course, a bitter spirit only leads to loss ultimately.  Just like the lesson I was preparing for my next Sunday School class.  Then, it really it me.  So, far every week my own heart plummets into the area where I will be teaching.  Last week we talked about trusting God in the wilderness, just as suddenly a wilderness experience entered my own life.  While in that place of not knowing, when the future looks so uncertain you cannot imagine which direction is right; one must fully rely on God for provision and direction.  Any other option is gone.  Well, now this week, I awoke with a bitter spirit and I would need to employ the same tactics as I planned to teach.  What an amazing God of Grace I serve!  He knows how imperfect is my own heart; yet, gives the grace to allow me to learn and teach of Him all at the same time.

A BITTER SPIRIT

So, it was the Israeli nation while traveling through the wilderness were often plagued with a bitter spirit of discontent.  They murmured at the Red Sea right before God parted the sea for them to cross.  Then, they murmured as they marched toward Mount Sinai, where they worshipped God then turned their backs on Him, building a golden calf.  Along the path from Mount Sinai to the edges of the promised land, their bitter spirit continued.  They murmured about the food.  Then, they murmured about their leaders.  Anger and bitterness remained on their lips often, despite God’s just moments of punishment and His acts of saving grace.  No one seemed to learn a lesson.  Never did they consider the cost before them for their bitter spirit, for they were about to suffer devastating loss.  Yet, they were too blind to see.

Moses grew weary of these grumbling people and even asked God, why? He even said, “Did I conceive all these people? Did I give birth to them, that you would say to me, ‘Carry them at the breast, as a nurse carries an unweaned child,’ to the fertile land that you promised their ancestors? (Numbers 11:12)

          God sent Moses helpers to deal with the people.   Still, whenever God said, “enough!  I will destroy these people and start a new family with you, Moses”, Moses would instead pray on their behalf for God’s grace to cover them.  He was always willing to sacrifice himself for them.  What a picture of Christ!  Although Moses was not perfect as Christ, for Moses was not the Messiah.  But he did point the way to the Messiah.  God does that.  He takes our flailing, sin filled hearts and transforms them so others can see Jesus through our lives.

Devastating Loss

So, it was their bitter spirit blinded them to the truth of the promised land.  God had said, “9 When you go to war in your land against an enemy who is attacking you, you will blow short blasts with the trumpets so that you may be remembered by the Lord your God and be saved from your enemies.”

          God had promised them the land and the victory over all their enemies.  Yet, so filled with a bitter spirit, they murmured against God instead of accepting the truth.  He had performed miracle after miracle before them.  His Glory resided in their presence; yet they were so blinded by their bitter spirit they could not see.  Therefore, before them lay the promised land and all they obtained was devastating loss.  But didn’t even then God give them what they asked for?

Numbers 14: 1The entire community raised their voice and the people wept that night. 2 All the Israelites criticized Moses and Aaron. The entire community said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt or if only, we had died in this desert! 

And so, that generation did just that.  All died, never seeing the promised except for Caleb and Joshua who “had a different spirit”.  Their spirit was one of praise, hope and faith.

LESSONS FOR US:
  1. There are Consequence of faithless choices.  In this case, God brought them to the edge of magnificent things—a bitter spirit caused their devastating loss.
  2. Their faithless choices led to Unnecessary detours where a group of people with an open door of opportunity and missed it

 

But isn’t that you and I?  Wasn’t that what I let into my heart last Monday? Thanks be to God for letting me see and deal with my own heart before I lost the most precious things I have—God and the family He graciously gave me.

 

Keys to Overcoming a Bitter Spirit
  1. First recognize the Sovereignty of God in our lives.  When I realize everything comes from Him, then I realize my bitter spirit is against Him.  My grumbling is against God.   When obedience to the will of God becomes conditional upon personal levels of comfort, we treat Him with contempt—our purpose is to enjoy the gifts; but not the Giver of the gifts.

So, remember all His promises and all that He has so graciously done over the years.

 

  1. We must remain clear, remembering our calling:   We must recognize our call is unconditional obedience and surrender to His will where the personal price of surrender is unknown.  We must take up our cross and follow Him.
  2. Then we must keep our eyes upon our destiny.

That is what I did and then I sat the grandchildren down the next morning and explained all of this and the story of the Israelites, using myself as an example as well.

Scriptures to Remember When Facing A Bitter Spirit.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.  Hebrews 12: 1-3

 

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.  Philippians 4:8

 

When we focus our eyes on all that is good and right.  If we keep our eyes on Jesus, then our hearts remain filled with joy, hope and faith.  No bitter spirit can survive God’s grace in our hearts. Instead of devastating loss we will face eternal joy, for in His presence is joy everlasting.

DO YOU KNOW CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR AND LORD?

If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord: I urge you to go to my page titled How to Be Saved by clicking on this link.  There is nothing more important than this; because,  He is the way, the truth and the life. Therefore, I urge you to seek Him today.

PREVIOUSLY

Obedience to the Plan of God Removes Chaos

For Prayer or Comments

If you have a prayer request feel free to email me by clicking here

Or if you would like to share  your story or thoughts, you can  comment here

Books Available

If you want to know more about books I have written, click on this link to discover my Book Resources.

Another option is going to Amazon.com. There you can find my books by searching for Effie Darlene Barba.  Or click this link to be taken there

Furthermore  for inspirational photos or home decor click here.

Disclosures

©Effie Darlene Barba, 2019
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned except for my own books. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Credits

Photo by Karim MANJRA on Unsplash

Obedience to the Plan of God Removes Chaos

The book of Numbers presents the plan of God for His people going forward.  A plan that removes all chaos.  Here we had over 1.5 million people traveling through the wilderness.  All around was nothingness, so they had to depend fully upon God to provide their needs.  It was essential to remain focused.  Any degree of chaos could bring total havoc to their progress.  There had to be order.  God’s design was perfect.  His grace overwhelming as he dealt with their failures, impatience and lack of faith.  He provided them with a humble, sacrificial leader who would sacrifice his life for their protection.  All God asked for was obedience to His plan for them.  Behind them lay slavery, sorrow and despair.  Ahead lay the promised land.

He provided from them Leviticus. A detailed plan of structuring their lives in such a manner as to remain safe socially and spiritually.  Therein, He provided a means for their redemption from sin through a sacrificial system that pointed the way to Christ.   Now in Numbers, God provides an organizational plan that provides efficiency and safety.  God within the tabernacle was central, as He must be today in the tabernacles of our hearts.  Surrounding the tabernacle were the priests, each group with their own unique orders of what they were responsible for when moving forward.  Each tribe remained together, having numbered the available fighting men within them.

God Removes Chaos

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Are You Secure in God’s Grace, How and Why?

Before we move fully into the book of Numbers, I want to go back once more to Mount Sinai.  Although I mentioned briefly Moses’s intercessory prayer, I believe we must linger a little longer there to fully grasp our study in the book of Numbers.  How can we be certain that we are secure in God’s Grace?  Why is that so important to know when we walk through the wilderness of life?  We seem to get caught between grace and works, most often in the wilderness.  Knowing that my relationship with God should manifest itself in good works; I strive hard to put on my armor every morning.  Then, somewhere along the way, “I” get distracted.  My eyes get so focused on whatever is my next right step, that I take my eyes off Jesus and look at the storm around me.

Then, just like Peter when he took his eyes off Jesus, I begin to sink in despair. Hopelessness fills my heart and I become restless.  There in that wilderness of uncertainty, I cry out to God.

Matthew 14:22-33 (NET)[1]

Continue reading “Are You Secure in God’s Grace, How and Why?”