SOAP - Numbers 19, 20; Psalm 28; Mark 5

Scripture-
Numbers 20:12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in Me enough to honor Me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."

Observation-
Moses and the Israelites were near the end of their 40 years of wandering in the desert and would soon be brought into the promised land according to God's covenant with Abraham. The Israelites were again rebelling and grumbling to Moses, this time about the lack of water. God told Moses to speak (and only to speak) to the rock and water would flow out of it. But in a rash act of disobedience and lack of deference to God's presence, Moses did not listen to God and instead struck the rock twice to initiate the water flow. God was not happy about this and rebuked Moses saying that he and Aaron would not personally enter the promised land.

Application-
I never want to offend the holiness of God and be disobedient to what He instructs me to do. Sometimes our human emotion and lack of rational thought gets the best of us - this is surely true in Moses' case. We need to realize our human nature and tendencies and do our best to manage those, especially when it comes to being obedient to God's Word and His will for our lives. God gave us free will, and my will is that I am going to be obedient to Him and serve Him as He leads me through His Holy Spirit.

Prayer-
Father, I pray for strength and courage to be obedient to You. I never want to offend Your holiness or frustrate Your will and purpose for my life that You have blessed me with. Father, I surrender everything to You and please help me to do Your will and not my will, that I may be a blessing to others and to glorify You. Help me to focus all of my energy and attention on running the race that You have laid out before me, always keeping my eye on the prize which is Your great love, mercy, and grace that saves us all through Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. You are Lord God Almighty and only You are worthy of all praise and glory - I freely give You my love and worship today and forever. Amen.