A Dependent Attitude - Moses

“Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill.

Numbers 20:10-11

A rookie construction worker couldn’t get one of his power tools to work properly. Finally, after struggling with it all morning and falling way behind in his work, he called his foreman.

“I did the best I could,” he told his supervisor.

“No, you didn’t,” the foreman replied. “To do your best, you should have called me sooner.”

An independent spirit often comes in handy, but sometimes it keeps us from our best, especially in the spiritual realm.

Moses had faithfully and sacrificially served God ever since the Lord called his name from a burning bush in Midian. This hero of the faith obeyed God’s instructions and accurately relayed God’s messages to Pharaoh and to the people of Israel. Moses became a humble, obedient servant, yet in a moment of anger and self-reliance, he lost everything that he had worked so hard to gain.

Wandering in the desert made the Israelites thirsty and cranky. When they complained about their lack of water, God gave Moses a strange-sounding command: “As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water” (Numbers 20:8). Simple enough—but instead of following God’s instructions, Moses angrily rebuked his countrymen and struck the rock twice.

God supplied water as he had promised, but Moses’ rash act landed him in big trouble. His prideful self-reliance cost him the opportunity to lead his people into the Promised Land.

Self-reliance or God-reliance? That’s the choice each of us must make every day of our lives. What would it mean for you to rely on God at work, at home, at church, and even at the gym? What does prideful self-reliance look like in each of those areas?

Growing children need to stretch their wings and assert their independence, but as you grow spiritually, you must remain dependent on God in all things. Certainly he calls you to step out in faith, exert great effort, and take risks for his name. Even then, he calls you to move forward with him, not on your own.