No Arguments

I was reading in Numbers 27 this morning.

Here is a very brief recap if you are unfamiliar with the story.

Moses had been leading God's people for years through the wilderness, to a land promised to them.
I'm sure he did much that went against the his better judgement as he lead the Israelites, but one particular decision was the deciding factor that kept him from being able to actually take the final steps to leading these people into the land himself.

Starting in verse 12:

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel.  When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.' ... Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 'Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.'"

The text never states that Moses had a rebuttal.
Or that he tried to prove his case.
Or try to fight for his "right"to enter that land and lead these people he'd given his life to lead.

I'm pretty sure if I had led these grumbling, complaining and most certainly annoying on occasion, people for 40 years in the wilderness, I would have felt entitled to be the one who led them into the land the Lord had been promising.  Like I deserved that privilege.

And I'm not sure if it was actually better or worse that the Lord allowed him to "see the land that I have given to the people of Israel" right before describing his deadly fate that occur before the actual entrance into the land.

Moses' lack of pity for himself turned to a concerned heart for the people who surrounded him during this heartbreaking exchange.

Instead of mulling over what he didn't get, Moses thought about the people who he had grown to love as he lead.  He wanted to make sure they would be taken care of, with a godly leader who could help them finish this thing in obedience to Christ.

In this, Moses was faithful to His God. His leader. His provider. His sustainer. The ONE who knew what was best for not only Moses, but for His people. For the story that would be read and passed down from generation to generation.

This generation.

Reminding me to look toward others and their needs, even when my own circumstances seem less than stellar or even unfair.