"Listen You Rebels..." They Made Me Do It!

"Listen, you rebels, must we...?' (Numbers 20:10)

Just like that he came to mind.  The man who gave up prestige, wealth, power, popularity and fame to suffer with God's people. He was not the best speaker, but because God chose him, God empowered him to speak, lead and mentor. To the disbelief, reproach and scoff of many, he turned his back on a lucrative career and chose the thus saith the Lord.

An easy path

You would think that, because he had chosen well, things would be easy; that he wouldn't have encountered problems. Think again, it was anything but easy. The people for whom he gave up pleasure, power and popularity, turned on him, even after what he had sacrificed in order to liberate them.

They made me do it!

They accused him instead of restricting them; of restricting their diet, dress and entertainment choices.
They rebelled, complained, undermined, whispered, backbited, accused, and slandered his name and reputation. His was a lonely position and existence. 

A lonely position

In light of this you would expect that, and understand if he imploded or exploded, which he eventually did. Further you would expect that because mitigating  circumstances, more specifically pressure from humans, contributed to the temporary lack of control, he would not be heavily penalised and denied the reward that he had sacrificed and endured tribulation to experience; the reward of entering the proposed land,  Canaan. After all it was clear that they had driven him to that unwitting action. "They made him do it..."

"Humans...!"

I am sure we can all attest to actions we have engaged in, and continue to engage in because of people. "They made me do it. They drove me away from church. They drove me to addiction. They drove me to this lifestyle. They caused me to distance myself. They caused me to hate. They made me do it... " Reader please note that the consequences of your actions, which you attribute to others, will still redound to you. The people frustrated Moses so much, he reacted. As a result he did not achieve the goal he had spent a lifetime preparing for and working towards even though he was that close to realising it.

Focus

May we be so focused on God that we won't allow people to make us do it, and lose out on realising our ultimate goal. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! (2 Corinthians 4:17)

This too will pass