Have you ever been reading through scripture, or just living life and run into a BIG QUESTION for God? Or maybe you’ve run into a circumstance or struggle that made you question God’s character, sovereignty, authority, or goodness? I know I have, and for many years I really just shied away from those confusing stories in scripture or those hard-to-understand moments in life. However, I really think we serve a God who wants us to lean into those questions.
Let’s look to scripture to help us figure out how to lean in.
The story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and to the promised land is laced with opportunities for us to see ourselves, both through the actions of the Israelites as well as through Moses’ life. We see Moses, who feels deeply inadequate leading people who are grumbling and complaining most of the time. We see Moses work as an intermediary between the people and God. Additionally, we get to see Moses continually go back to the presence of God to understand what God would have him do. So much great, relatable content here.
However, in Numbers 20, God asked Moses to speak to the rock in the wilderness of Zin at Kadesh and that water would be provided. Moses did go to the rock, but instead of speaking to it, he struck the rock twice and the water came out. Moses and Aaron are angry in this scene since the people were grumbling again, so they shouted, “must WE bring you water from this rock?” They essentially took credit for the work that God was doing to provide water in the wilderness. Here’s the kicker: as a result of striking the rock instead of speaking to it, and taking credit for the provision, Moses and Aaron are not allowed to enter the promised land! You know, the promised land they’ve been leading the people for nearly four decades?! I don’t know about you, but this seems so harsh to me!
Let’s stop and think: When we do not understand God, we have to remember a few things:
- God is big enough, strong enough, powerful enough, and graceful enough to allow us to ask big questions like… “hey God, that seems harsh, why was Moses’ punishment so severe?”
- If we use moments like this to lean in instead of falling away, we might not get all of our answers, but we WILL understand more about the character of God and more about ourselves.
- We are NOT God, and we cannot fully understand. We wouldn’t want to serve a God we could fully comprehend.
- We need a God that is incomprehensibly holy.
Ultimately, if we dig in a bit more to this specific story about God’s punishment for Moses, we can see a few things. One is that God desires our obedience (1 Samuel 1:52), and God wasn’t pleased that Moses went back to what God had commanded in Exodus 17 to strike the rock for water to come instead of speaking to it like he had been commanded. God wants us to rely on His prompting and His direction at each crossroads we come to; we need to rely on His guidance, not the methodologies we’ve leaned on in the past. Additionally, we cannot take credit for God’s work and provision; He deserves all honor and glory, and His holiness needs to be on display for the people (Numbers 20:12). Why? Because as leaders, we need people to depend on God’s provision and power, not the provision and power of a man or a leader. Our leadership skills pale in comparison to a Holy God through whom all things come from and all things return to (Romans 11:36).
As you can see, there was a lot to be learned from leaning in to this big question instead of skimming over, ignoring, or falling away because God’s actions made us uncomfortable. What does leaning in look like? Well, it can look like a few things:
- Pause and reflect, read the scripture in context
- Widen the lens of your perspective
- Ask other believers what they think
- Read some resources about the topic
- Look up original Greek/Hebrew in the text
Here’s the deal: Did I get a complete and full understanding of God’s motives? No. However, did I draw closer to God and learn more about myself? Absolutely.
There are countless other stories in scripture as well as opportunities and circumstances in our life that will leave us with big unanswered questions. Next time you are faced with one of these questions, try leaning in.
