Message: The reading today had a pretty strong parallel in meaning and
it convicted my heart! In Numbers 12 Moses’s siblings, Aaron & Miriam
started criticizing him because of his Cushite wife. Then they said “Does the
Lord speak only through Moses? Does he not also speak through us?” What really
stuck out to me was this next line “and the Lord heard it”. This whole
interaction started off by some sibling criticism that had nothing to do with
anything and and the next thing you know they were questioning the legitimacy
of Moses and elevating themselves to something God had not called them, nor equipped
them to do. Moses didn’t hear any of it, but God did and God was angry. I think
often times we rattle off and say things out of a complaining or critical
spirit and because of our familiarity we question what God is using someone
else to do because we know things about them that maybe nobody else does. I’m not
necessarily talking about sin issues. I’m talking about human issues. Vulnerabilities,
insecurities, back stories and flaws. Who knows us more than our immediate
family or our close circle, and who do we know in our immediate family or close
circle that we might feel comfortable criticizing? Aaron knew more than anyone that Moses was self-conscious
about public speaking because he was used to speak what Moses heard from God. Aaron
& Miriam probably felt safe speaking this way together and it caused me to
think about how easy it is to feel safe speaking critically in certain company
because there is agreement. We forget that even if nobody else ever hears it,
God has heard it all. Not only has he heard it, but he knows the attitude it
came from and he is literally the only one who can judge that motive. Ouch! In
Romans 12 this couldn’t have been tied in more perfectly because Paul is
warning us all that we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we should.
Instead to think sensibly. From there he begins to describe how we are all one
body with many parts and many different functions, and according to the grace
given to us we have different gifts.
Command: Humble our hearts before God and
speak sensibly.
Promise: We all have an important part to play
and a different gift that we have been given.
Warning: Criticism leads to arrogance and
arrogance elevates our flesh to desire things we were not equipped or anointed to
touch.
Application: As I read this I cringed as I thought
about even recent conversations I not only partook in, but I instigated with my
sarcastic mouth. Some of it began in witty humor, but most of it is stemming
from an ugly attitude and a complaining spirit within my own heart. It’s
especially bad to criticize those who lead us because they have been given a
task that includes a responsibility for those they are leading. It seems easy
to criticize the way someone else is managing that responsibility when we aren’t
the ones who carry the weight of it. It’s also true that how we treat those who
lead us directly affects how we will lead others. My heart was completely
busted reading this so my self-application here is to first pray through the
attitude withing my own heart, and then pray for those that lead me in a way
that I would want someone to pray for me. This week I need to have a conversation
with those I have infected with my words, and I need to tell them openly that I
was wrong and will not be initiating or partaking in any more conversations
like it.
