The Lesson
“Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.” Numbers 20:8 KJV
I must be pretty teachable. My father has told a story about me a thousand times. Yep, if there comes a moment with a chance to embarrass me, it’s usually one of the first stories that pops out. I don’t really remember it happening, but I’ve heard it so many times, I guess it has to be in a history book somewhere. I guess it must be true.
When I was very little, or so I’m told, I refused to pick up my toys, once. Apparently there weren’t many warnings and my Dad picked them up for me. He then stored them up high so I couldn’t reach them. My pleading didn’t serve any purpose because the judge was determined to teach me a lesson. It must have worked, because he said he never had a problem with me picking up my toys again.
He was an up and coming preacher and he might have even been a little full of himself. When he spoke he was starting to have large crowds gather to hear his message. He wanted to talk to the President. The President was very busy and said he didn’t really have the time. Then, five days after that, war broke out in Korea. He sent the President the following telegram: “Millions of Christians praying God give you wisdom in this crisis. Strongly urge showdown with Communism now. More Christians in Southern Korea per capita than any part of world. We cannot let them down.”
Three weeks later he was off to meet the President.
He was a tall, blond haired, lanky thirty-one year old and now he was off to meet the President. Time magazine called the suit he was wearing to the meeting “pistachio-green” in color. He remembered it as cream colored. He came with three colleagues who were similarly dressed. Later he would describe their walk from their hotel to the White House as them looking like a barbershop quartet.
He was a very reluctant leader, but when God convinced him that he was the right man for the job, he put his whole heart into it. Soon he had the whole crowd on his side and everyone rallied around the mission. After a while the grumbling started. Then they questioned of his leadership. He did what he always did in these situations; he turned to God for the answer. God gave him the answer and the directions to follow. Still in the back of his mind it must have bothered him a little that this group he lead through so much was now turning on him.
The people were looking for water and they couldn’t find any. They blamed him. It had to be his fault. Countless times before, he had lead them through even harder circumstances. Why were their memories so short?
The preacher was informed that their meeting with the President would last exactly twenty minutes. They were ushered into the Oval Office promptly at noon. The President looked at the quartet and their outfits and probably thought they were a vaudeville team, but he was cordial and shook their hands. The preacher then asked the President about his faith. The President replied, “I try to live by the Sermon on the Mount and the Golden Rule.” The preacher then said, “It takes more than that, Mr. President. It’s faith in Christ and His death on the Cross that you need.” As if the President had heard enough, he informed the group that their twenty minutes was up. The preacher asked if they could pray before they left. The President agreed to the request. The preacher then put his arm around the President and prayed.
Moses was confronted by the exiles because they could not find any water. “You have taken us all the way out here in the desert to die?” they shouted. Moses again turned to God with their request. God simply told Moses to talk to the rock and water would flow out of it. Moses returned to the people with the instructions God had given him. There in front of him was the rock God told him to talk to. Maybe Moses had just had enough of the groups whining, or maybe there was some other item that caused him to snap. Instead of listening to God’s direction, Moses struck the rock twice with his rod. Water came pouring out. The result was the same, but the disobedient heart was now separated from God. Moses did it his way and not God’s way.
When Billy Graham and his three colleagues left the Oval Office, after meeting with President Truman, they stepped outside to the White House lawn. There was a photographer there waiting for them. The photographer wanted to get one of those front page pictures for his paper so he requested that Billy Graham and the three colleagues pose for a picture kneeling on the White House lawn. The press corps went wild over the request and shouted their approval. Sensing the opportunity to advance his cause, Billy Graham and the others posed for the picture. He later said he even offered “a thanksgiving as sincerely as I could.” President Harry Truman was none too pleased with their antics and he would never invite Billy Graham back to the White House. A White House staff memorandum would explain, “You know what a show of himself Billy Graham made the last time he was here. The President does not want it repeated.”
Many years later Billy Graham would finally meet up again with Harry Truman at his home in Independence, Missouri. He would apologize “profusely for our ignorance and naivete.” Reverend Graham vowed he would never again fall into that trap if he was given access to a person of rank or influence. Many Presidents have since relied on his consul and confidence and he never again put on one of his “shows” for the press.
Moses would receive a very severe punishment for his actions. God would not allow him to step foot into the Promised Land. Moses accepted his punishment and probably learned his lesson, too.
Prayer: Father, Sometimes doing things my way seems so natural. Please grant me the wisdom to know when to and not to do things stubbornly my way. Help me to always to look for Your way first. Amen.
