Wanderings.

I’ve been standing on the edge of the Jordan listening, and a story that I am familiar with is taking on new meaning.  Moses is recounting the sad tale of the generation that didn’t make it through the wanderings of the wilderness.

He’s reviewing the command, their complaints, his encouragement, and then reveals the reason behind their long wanderings*.

What I thought was a disobedience story (they didn’t ‘go up’*), Moses articulates as unbelief*.

Same story?

But Moses doesn’t leave his own story out of the oration.  He wandered too, with that great flock of people, never making it past the Jordan.

His story?  Not a battle, but a rock.  One that he hit, rather than instructed.

Pressured by really disgruntled people, Moses did some name calling and then hit the rock, twice, to bring forth water for the people.

Maybe he forgot he had just met face to face with God Almighty (angry and disgruntled people can do that), but he didn’t do what he was told*.

Disobedience?  Sounds like it to me … but You called it ‘unbelief”*.

Deeper.

A whole new spin on obedience appears. As opposed to simply hearing and doing*, these stories reveal the deeper part of obedience – believing.

The charges against these groups reveal what the heart of disobedience really holds.

Unbelief.

Neither party acknowledging You in their moment.

Moses was distracted by his angry flock*, and the people were distracted by fear*.  Neither one grabbed hold of the bigger reality, You.

Face to face chats with You, a pillar of fire for a compass, and food from heaven.  Every wonder they witnessed faded as they contemplated, or maybe just responded to, the powerful tug at the heart.

Neither party clung to (believed) the truth about You*, only the partial truth of the moment.

I’m reminded of Beth Moore’s points on believing, and it starts with this – You are who You say You are, and You can do what You say You can do*.  

Acknowledging You unlocks the power of obedience.

Believing that You are who You say You are and that You can do what You say You can do disengages the power of the moment and releases the power of the Almighty.

Choices.

I once had a screen saver on my computer at work that scrolled ‘Disciplined Obedience’.  At the time, I needed a reminder to not be distracted by the moment…and choose obedience, routinely.  I needed to simply practice obeying.  Practice kindness, practice gentleness, practice honesty.  Even when ‘the moment’ made those choices difficult.

These didn’t happen without You.  And I found myself one day typing up a new screen saver.  ‘Joyful, Joyful’ it scrolled.

The joy?  Relationship.  Believing You through the practice of obedience had turned into, over time, the realization that in all my moments of distraction, big or little, You had gone before me, fought for me and, in many desperate places, had carried me as a man carries his son.*.

There was joy for the fruit of kindness and truth, but the real joy wasn’t the obedience, it was the relationship found in ‘believing’.

Believing is the relationship* that makes obedience possible…and even better, enjoyable.

* Clicking on *’s will open a new web page providing the indicated reference.