rod moment

there is someone in my prayers
presently struggling with deep frustration
in the hearing of murmuring and criticism ………..

although much potential on the horizon
his ears and eyes are clouded
by the dust of the swirling words

and my Jesus showed me something
through the life of Moses

Moses spent time in the desert
shepherding his people

it was a tough time
a dry time
but God
the One Who shepherded Moses into the desert
proved Himself faithful
by day
and by night

and even though the people, the sheep
were no longer enslaved by man
they remained enslaved by their own hopes
their own dreams

their own will

and they mumbled
and they grumbled
and they criticized
and they plotted coups

and Moses was aware

there came a moment
when God, Moses’ faithful Shepherd,
in response to the whining of the sheep
for more water

told Moses to

TAKE his rod
and SPEAK

to the rock

Moses previously
under God’s direction
had always taken his rod
to hit the rock
causing the water contained within
to be released

this time though
God said
TAKE your rod but do not use it.
but
Moses
this mighty friend of God
disobeyed
and hit the rock

not once but twice

and what was it that caused Moses to disobey
his God

his Shepherd

could it have been he was so absolutely frustrated
with his sheep that he just whacked the rock
because that had always worked in the past
and once the sheep had their water
they would quieten down

or was it that he was a little concerned this time
the level of the noise from the sheep
was growing

and what if SPEAKING to the rock didn’t work

was there was perhaps a little lack of trust
in his Shepherd
to provide

in any case
Moses disobeyed
and so

although he saw his horizon
his destiny
he was not ever able to reach it

and I started to wonder
for us
what is our rod
is it our gifting
is it our authority

and are there times God asks us to
enter an area
or remain where we are
with our gifting but not use it

does He say
I have something new for you
and are we able to trust in something we have never seen manifested
are we able to trust our God
who has never let us down
who has always proved Himself faithful
are we able to simply trust ………

and I began to understand the effect
of the mumbling and grumbling
on our shepherds

is it that that causes them to stumble
causes them to vary from their path
causes them to hit the rock when they are to simply speak
causes them to wrap their fist around their rod
and not simply trust …………