“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. The LORD said to Moses, “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. 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?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank” (Num 20: 6 – 11).

The Lord was not happy with the way this played out. His instructions to Moses were to take the staff, which he did, gather the assembly together, with Aaron’s help (tick!) and then speak to the rock, with everybody watching on.

No tick for the last instruction.

Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses spoke to the people. Actually, he vented his anger at the people and said, “must we bring water out of this rock?” Moses then struck the rock twice with his staff, which the Lord had not told him to do.

You may know the end of the story. In verse 12, we read, “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.” In one stupid moment, Moses lost his ticket into the Promised Land.

What did he do wrong?

Perhaps the first thing is that Moses didn’t follow the Lord’s specific instructions. He improvised out of frustration. It is amazing to me that the Lord still went along with it, providing the much-needed water. I guess his compassion for the people outweighed any thought He may have had to hold back the miracle.

Second, the emphasis on “we” in Moses’ question, “must we bring you water out of this rock?” does suggest that he thought of himself a little too highly in that moment. If Moses had followed his orders to the letter, the Lord would likely have honoured him before the people, as he often did. Instead, Moses stole the glory that belongs only to the Lord and paid the price.

Doing the will and work of God is not to be taken lightly. When the Lord entrusts us to serve him in any kind of leadership role, we stand on holy ground. The question is, will we honour him as holy by obeying his instructions and will we honour him as holy by giving the glory to Him?

The most humble man on earth failed to be humble by the waters of Meribah and it cost him dearly. Let’s not make the same mistake today.

“You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?” But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished. Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you. But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed” (Deut 7: 17 – 23).

Poised with anticipation, the second-generation children of Israel are preparing to take the land – the land the Lord promised to them. The book of Deuteronomy is full of speeches given by Moses reminding them of the law, recalling their disastrous short history so far, and then calling them to renew their covenant with God.

In this speech in chapter 7, the Lord, through Moses, is carefully informing the Israelites that they will not conquer the current inhabitants in one single military campaign. They will take possession of the land “little by little”. “You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once”, says Moses.

This is an interesting detail, because some battle-ready tribes may be keen to get on with the job. The sooner we get in there, the quicker we can make it our home, plant crops, build permanent shelters etc.

But the Lord is calling them to be patient. It is not going to be a done deal in one day, or a week, or a year. This new season of conquest needs to take place gradually, and the reason is given: “or the wild animals will multiply around you”.

If the nations were eliminated all at once, the overall balance of the ecosystem would be affected. With a sudden depopulation everywhere, and time passing until all families could be transported to their new homes, there would be fewer people present to control the environment, particularly predators dangerous to human beings. A slower campaign of possession would provide a better chance of creating new communities that are livable and safe.

This is a great example of God’s timing revealing his superior knowledge and wisdom.

There are times when I want the Lord to answer a prayer straight away, or in a particular way. Why do I have to wait, when God can do a miracle in a moment? The thing is, although we know he sees the bigger picture, we don’t always trust that what he sees is as important as the issues at front and centre of our minds.

When I want God to act quickly, I have no view of the rest of the ecosystem. The other people affected, his will in multiple scenarios around me. It is not just my needs he has promised to take care of, but countless others. The pieces of the jigsaw need to come together in just the right way. His timing is perfect.

In Genesis 18: 1 we read, “The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby…”

Later a conversation between them goes like this:

“Where is your wife, Sarah?” they asked him.

“There, in the tent,” he said.

Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh” (Gen 18: 9 – 15).

They say laughter is the best medicine, but Sarah’s response to the Lord in this story is not one of joy or amusement. This is a laugh of disbelief, almost sarcasm, “Oh sure, that at age one hundred, I would enjoy intimacy with my husband, and that things in my very old body might start working again, like they did many moons ago, so that I may bear a child! I’m old enough to be a great, great grandmother!”

What hasn’t hit her yet is that we are talking about Almighty God here. Is anything too hard for the Lord?

I wonder how easily you and I turn to disbelief, even sarcasm.

“Oh right! (some might say) So you expect me to just ‘let go’ and sail along in some bliss-filled imaginary, Christian bubble, forgetting the fact that the money is due tomorrow, and I have zero dollars in my account.”

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

“I have tried all those things you are talking about. They don’t work. Nothing works!”

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

“It’s funny, I used to have faith like you. I prayed all the time. I still believe of course, but in my own way. God helps those who help themselves” Is anything too hard for the Lord?

No, nothing is too hard for the Lord. He can bring new life to a hundred-year-old woman, he can cause that baby to grow and eventually become a father himself. The Lord can form the generations that follow into a bigger and bigger family until they become a nation. He can mould that nation into a people he calls his own and he can birth his own substance as God incarnate, Jesus Christ, His Son right in the heart of that nation and into the middle of history.

And he can cause that Son to do something so unexpected, so profound, so universe changing as to provide salvation and new life through his willing death on the cross and then powerful resurrection from the dead. God can take a hundred-year-old lady and create children for himself so numerous as to be beyond counting.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?