A New Way
Who likes predictability? You just like to know what’s happening, where and how?
When you find a way that something works do you stick to it?
Have you ever heard the saying “IF IT AINT BROKE, DON’T FIX IT”?
The only problem is that we can become so set in our own ways or in the way it’s always been done that we can struggle to see when something is broken!
But what if there is A NEW WAY? A different way? Would we be open to hearing and learning a new way?
I love routine and I love knowing what things will and won’t work, but sometimes that way just isn’t getting the same results anymore and we wonder why.
The way we use to approach work isn’t bringing the same results it used to, the way we discipline our children doesn’t have the same outcome these days, or maybe the way we lead others isn’t having the same desired results in this season.
I wonder instead of getting frustrated, would we look to God and see if maybe there’s a new way He would have us do the same things but see different results!
Moses faced this same frustration that we can feel today and we can learn a thing or two from his frustrations.
Moses was out in the desert with the Israelites who had just recently been freed from Egypt and he faced a situation where all the people were thirsty yet there was no water…
Exodus 17:3-6
“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?”
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.” Moses is faced with a situation that he didn’t have an answer for SO he cried out to God. God gave Moses A WAY “take your staff and strike the rock”. As God promised water came gushing out of the rock and all the people were able to drink and give their livestock drink and they stopped grumbling against Moses. When have you faced a situation where you couldn’t see a way forward and you cried out to God and He showed you a way? Maybe it was a health issue and you weren’t finding any answers but you cried out to God and He showed you the right medical professionals to help bring you healing! Maybe you’ve felt frustrated with your job and you weren’t sure if you should stay or leave and you cried out to God and He gave you such a clear pathway. {God shows us a way in whatever situations we may find ourselves in – but He doesn’t just show us any way He shows us His way} But God’s ways are not as predictable as we may like them to be! Have you ever felt like you just keep going around the same mountain? You seem to continually be faced with the same situations AND YOU FIND YOURSELF FRUSTRATED AND STUCK….I know that I have! I IMAGINE THAT MOSES FELT THE SAME WAY IN NUMBERS 20 WHEN he finds himself about a year later back in the same situation – still wandering in the desert with the Israelites and yet again they are complaining about having nothing to drink! Numbers 20:5-12 “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honour me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” God gave Moses a NEW WAY for an old situation – he told him to take his staff in his hand but this time instead of hitting the rock God told him to SPEAK to the rock.
But Moses’ frustration with the people and the situation he was facing caused him to miss God’s new way.
HERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE NEED TO DO IF WE WANT TO WALK IN GOD’S NEW WAY:
1. RE-FOCUS
{Frustration will steal our focus}
God told him to speak to the rock INSTEAD he spoke to the people “Listen you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock….”
Moses was so focused on the people, on the situation, that he missed Gods strategy!!
Perhaps God has a new way for whatever situation you find yourself in today, if only we would shift our focus from the situation and the frustration to His voice that whispers His way.
2. KEEP MOVING FORWARD
In his frustration he reverted back to the old way and he struck the rock twice. Instead of looking forward, he looked back to what worked last time. The last time he struck the rock and water came out.
We may be more comfortable with the old, with the tired and tested BUT God is a God of the new, He is constantly moving forward. While our past is not to be discounted, God has new things, and new ways for us to walk in!
{Don’t automatically revert back to what worked last time - keep looking forward}
3. TRUST
Vs 12 “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you DID NOT TRUST IN ME enough to honour me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them”
{Trust is fundamental to walking in God’s new way}
God’s way may not have made sense to Moses, he thought the people needed to be spoken to harshly and he wrongly assumed that he could do what he had done before and get the same results……which for a moment he may have thought worked…because water did flow from the rock. Yet, because of his lack of trust He wasn’t able to follow God’s new way and he would now miss the promise.
This punishment seems harsh that just because he didn’t follow God’s way and he hit a rock instead of speaking to a rock he was now not going to receive the promise of leading the people into the land. However, leadership carries greater responsibility and when Moses chose to do it his own way he was actually misrepresenting God in front of all those he was leading. When we chose to trust God’s new way even when it doesn’t make sense to us we are choosing to represent God well to those who we’re leading. Seeking God’s new way for our situation, re-focusing, moving forward and trusting God (even when it doesn’t make sense) not only produces the promises in our life but it actually allows us to lead our community into their promise! Whatever situation you’re facing right now, whatever mountain you seem to be going around again, stop and ask God for His new way, and see His amazing promises fulfilled in your life!
Elise Heerde is a wife, mother, teacher and writer from Melbourne who loves Jesus and passionately shares about the grace, hope and love that He offers to all. She deeply desires to see the broken made whole, the captives set free and the lost brought home. You can find her instagram account here @her.anchor
