7 times 7 - Most humble

Psalm 106:23 "Therefore, He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, to turn away His wrath from destroying them."

This section of Israel's history fascinates me, like none other, because it is one of the clearest examples on what leadership in ministry (and in life) looks like. There is a statement in Numbers 12:3 saying "Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.", which could seem not very humble of a thing to say, unless you read the context. Right before this statement, Moses complains to God, stating that he isn't capable of leading this people on his own. Then Miriam speaks against Moses, jealous of the position God has placed him in. Moses intercedes on Miriam's account, when God punishes her. Then we continue to see a pattern of Israel complaining to Moses about the difficulty of the journey and God intends to punish the people and then Moses intercedes on their behalf, even though most of the complaints are against Moses too.

We often complain against the circumstances God has put us in, even when they are a direct result of our own sin and rebellion. God would be completely justified in His anger against us and in His judgement. But we have an intercession even greater than Moses. We have Jesus Christ Himself, completely obedient to the Father, standing in the breach before Him and turning away God's wrath. The book of Hebrews describes how Jesus, our perfect High Priest, forever saves us, because He always lives to make intercession for us (Heb 7:25) and that His perfect obedience becomes our source of eternal salvation (Heb 5:7-10). Paul tells us in Philippians that Jesus humbles Himself to death on a cross, despite being fully God and fully man (Phil 2:5-8).

Moses, a forerunner of Christ, shows obedience in putting the call of the Lord higher than his own pride, personal preference or comfort. How do we live like this? Peter tells us "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (1Peter 2:9-10) This great passage explains what we are to do and how we are to do it. Now that we have received mercy and are part of the people of God, we are to live as His own possession, proclaiming the excellencies of Him who has called us. When we recognize that we received mercy and were chosen by God to be His, there is no room for pride. There is no room to think that we deserve salvation more than anyone else. ("For by grace you have been saved through faith; and not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." Eph 2:8-9)

Once we receive this gift from God, we can then live telling other about what He has done for us. We live a life of praising God's gift of salvation - living for the One who has given us life. Our call, whether it seems important or not, is a call to obedience. Our call is to direct everyone's eyes towards the excellencies of God, not ourselves. We see each day as an opportunity to live for Him.

The world has all sorts of ways of judging success - money, power, authority, material possessions, beauty. Each of these can quickly be changed by circumstance and the world would question our worth. But God says that we are His people - regardless of what the world thinks. God may have called you into a position of power or influence or wealth. But He doesn't see that as being any more important than the one He called into positions the world would look down upon. When our identity is in Him, we can be humble, whether the world tries to exalt us or not. We can point to Him and give Him the glory, whether people are applauding us or not.

Moses was going to obey God's call on his life to lead the people of Israel, regardless of what the Israelites thought. He didn't take their praise or their criticism personally. He was secure in his identity in God, so obedience was his primary concern. Sure there were good days and bad. There were days of listening to non-stop complaints and days of amazing worship. There were days sitting on Mt Sinai, in the presence of God Almighty and there were days of resolving petty conflict. But Moses' identity was not based on whether or not the people thought he was doing a good job - his success was measured by his obedience to God.

If you believe in Him, you are a prince or princess in the kingdom of heaven. Your inheritance is immeasurable wealth for all of eternity. There is nothing on this earth that can compare to that. But our call is the same, both here and in heaven - to glorify God for all He has done. If we live for His glory, nothing on this earth can shake us.