we all know the story in Numbers 20; that familiar story of Moses in the desert of Kadesh; after 40 years of exile in the desert, the Lord brought the Israelites full circle, back to the place where their forefathers had rebelled against Him and refused to enter the promise land due to a lack of faith and obedience; and at that very same place, the issue of water arose again; the people complained about the lack of water, the lack of food, they lashed out at Moses in the same way their forefathers did;
and Moses consulted the Lord. the Lord asked him to take His staff and to speak to the rock, that water may flow out of the rock. Moses listened, but later, in a fit of rage and impulse, the very culmination of the frustration of 40 years of exile, Moses struck the rock with His staff – just like He had been told to d 40 years back.
water gushed out. but God was upset. he was upset that Moses had not honored Him in the presence of the Israelites; and that Moses had not had enough faith to do what he had been told. Because of that moment of impulse, the Lord denied him entry into the promise land.
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and what do we have to learn from this. perhaps we’re all wondering. but there’s a crucial, crucial lesson that i hope to share with everyone today; something that God has been impressing on my heart – because, like Moses, i think i have struck the rock.
how many times have we prayed a prayer of faith, vowing to trust God and follow Him, and yet when the time comes, we take things into our own hands, we rely on human wisdom, and we simply strike the rock?
and thereafter, we lament and wonder why God had not listened to our prayer.
the truth is, God did answer, God did show the way, but we had not enough faith to trust Him with that way, and perhaps, in ignorance, in a rash move, in a foolish risk, we took our own way which we deemed best — and ended up making a greater mess of things. surely, God would be frustrated, he tried to make things better, He would have made things better, but we decided to interfere and make it worse.
but God is merciful. and He will forgive; and somehow, He already knew that we would make that rash decision; He will pardon, as long as we return in repentance.
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life, is like a trip through a blizzard; you can’t see beyond 10 feet ahead of you; the snow under your feet is close to a foot deep; it’s easy to get lost, it’s easy to lose sight of where we’re going.
but there’s Jesus, he walks ahead of you; you can see His every footstep imprinted in the snow; his feet are so big, so wide – and you know the best way to walk is to simply step into his footsteps; your tiny feet following in his footsteps. you do so, and there is only one set of footprints at the end of it all — Jesus’ footsteps.
and yet sometimes, we stray, we go our own way, and suddenly, the footprints diverge, and you’ve got a set of your own – wandering in circles, lost in the many struggles of life. but Jesus calls you back. He keeps calling.
and so the question today is: have we struck the rock? have we chose to diverge and take things into our own hands despite having said a prayer of faith?
i do hope, that at the end of life, we will look back to find predominantly only one set of footprints — Our Lord Jesus’ (:
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and now. to life itself.
IPOD was madness. arrived with aching legs; had some rice crispies (oh you can’t start imagining how good they tasted..); had a good laugh; played our hearts out; had wonderful fellowship; and left with double-aching legs. (:
had some hakka yong tau foo that night – yes, first time in my life, cooked by my very own grandparents (: the filling was amazing, but i was quite tired by then, grumpy, and i recall darkness closing in on me, so i cuddled up in a corner of my aunt’s home and tried to sleep it away.
i wonder why, sometimes, we stretch out a helping hand, and it gets slapped quite badly, and yet we keep stretching it out; perhaps…does it ever reach a point where it would be better to stop trying?
and now. it seems like everything that’s done, is perceived as insincere. and one gets stuck in the valley, there doesn’t seem to be a way out. but there is one – and that’s Jesus.
yes. for You Lord, i will consider all things loss, in the light of knowing You.
we must all learn to sing that song — “Knowing You Jesus, knowing You, there is no greater thing (: “
hmm…. true…
how do we surrender all to Him? and truly do , so many times we do “strike the rock” or maybe another example, Ishmael instead of Issac
could we be like Abraham and sacrifice Issac on the rock, even when it seems that His promise does rest upon it?
Faith…