今天收到的这篇文章,以摩西的方式来面对批评和责难,很有启发,分享.
不单独行动,凡事祷告,将问题带到神的面前,自己从中调解,即使批评自己的人明显错误.
摩西自己就是一个犯过错误的孩子,我们也是.
The Moses way of handling criticism
One of my favourite bible characters in recent years has been Moses. His knowledge and experience of God and His glory encourages me to know God more.
Reading through the book of Numbers recently, I was struck by how Moses reacted to the constant complaints and criticism by the children of the children of Israel. What I found particularly interesting was that whether the criticism was justified or not, Moses’ response was always the same. He would take it to God in prayer. When the people were wrong and God wanted to judge them, he would stand in the place of intercession for them. He always prayed to get a Godly perspective and in some cases Godly instructions. He never acted alone.
Let’s consider a few examples:
Numbers 12:1 Here his own brother and sister rose up against him because of the Ethiopian woman he had married. So angry was God at this revolt that he caused Miriam to have leprosy. To have leprosy in those days was to be an outcast. So you can imagine Miriam the prophetess being an outcast in the house of God. So what did Moses do? He prayed (Numbers 12:3) and God removed the leprosy. Remember, Moses was the guy who was wronged.
So on to Numbers 14 – this time the turn of the leaders. The Israelites in disbelief, because of the bad report of the spies, had refused to proceed into the Promised Land. So the people complained against Moses as if it was Moses’ idea in the first place to take them out of Egypt. The people then decided to turn their backs on God, return to Egypt and before they went, decided to stone Moses and his brother (Numbers 14:4). Stoning Moses could well had resulted in Moses death, if they had gone ahead. Moses’ reaction is exemplary. In response to this, Moses and Aaron prayed and bowed before the Lord (Numbers 14:5, 11-20)
Moses prayed a prayer of intercession: “Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of your mercy, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt until now”. How often do we pray for those that have wronged us, especially when we are in the right?
Fast forward to Numbers 16:1-3 – the sons of Korah were now up against Moses. The sons of Korah were responsible for the tabernacle, the house of God. Remember the ark of covenant, representing the presence of God, was in the tabernacle. The sons of Korah stated that Moses had exalted himself above the people The people responsible for ensuring ‘God’s presence’ was carried in the right manner ,were fighting for more position. They did not realise what an honourable position they actually had.
So they complained against Moses and what did Moses do? Yes, you guessed, he prayed to God (Numbers 16:4). This did not avert the judgement of God as the ground opened and swallowed them up.
You would have thought that by now, the people would be in awe of God and Moses and stop their complaining, but after seeing what happened to the sons of Korah, they complained against Moses, stating that Moses had killed their leaders (Numbers 14:41)., As was his custom, Moses turned to God in prayer.
Unfortunately the people’s criticism and complaints were too much for Moses, so much so that he acted in anger when God told him to speak to the rock. Instead he struck it, thus leading to him disrespecting and dishonouring God before the people. As a result, he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.
Moses is a great example to us today. We need to examine our reaction to criticism. The question is whether we pray before we do anything? And when the people who criticise us are wrong, do we stand in a place of intercession for them? This is what it means to be partakers of the divine nature.
May the Lord cause and enable us to walk according to these truths. Let’s learn from Moses and ensure that people’s constant criticism does not wear us down or get us to the point where we jeopardise the best that God has for us. I pray that the Lord will help us in Jesus’ name.
Just a thought for another day, but until I appear again in your inbox, stay blessed and feel free to share this with anyone that might be blessed by it
Ola
www.christianbusinessmagazine.com
www.purposeforchrist.com.
