Thursday, May 21, 2015

Thurs Devo: Response to Opposition

Being involved in church work can be messy. I can think of two different instances when I felt attacked by someone at church after doing what I thought was the right thing. One time was when I represented the pastor search committee and announced to the congregation that we were rescinding our nomination of a potential pastor. One person in our congregation immediately stood up and made some angry and critical remarks in front of the whole church because he had liked the guy. I tried to be diplomatic without giving all the details (since we discovered some apparent character flaws while checking references). Of course, inside, I wanted to defend myself and the rest of the committee and share all the dirty details.  

This was a very tiny attack compared to what Moses and Aaron experienced in our reading last week. Plus, this wasn’t the only time Moses had been opposed for doing what God had commanded him to do. Pharaoh, the Israelite elders, his own siblings, and the Israelite people (many times) had all opposed him. In fact, the time before this, the whole assembly talked about stoning Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua (Numbers 14:10)!

So, how does Moses respond?
Numbers 16:4-7          When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers and tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”           

Moses responds with humility. He doesn’t lash back with a list of all their failures. He doesn’t defend himself or try to explain his position. In fact, he puts the responsibility on God, where it belongs. God called him to this job and upheld him time and time again in the past. So, Moses could confidently trust that He would do the same again.

How do you and I respond when we are attacked?
Do we attack back? Do we make excuses?
Do we try and explain our position? Do we give up or run away?
Or, do we humbly go to God first before responding to ask Him exactly how He wants us to respond?
If we are doing what God has asked us to do, then we can leave it to God to defend our actions and position.

Alice

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