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Results Versus Reward
Weekly Edition #57: February 25th, 2026
Verse I Like:
“Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
Weekly Dose
Far too often, I give myself credit in ways that are quietly unhealthy. I minimize the role of things that unfold, which are out of my control. I treat outcomes as if they were entirely engineered by my own discipline, foresight, and effort.
I push to the background the plans that are larger than me.
If there is a reliable way to plant a prideful seed in myself, I would do this: over participate in the credit, underparticipate (or not at all) in the blame.
The path to pride is not always all at once, nor is it alot at once. But it is a slow burn that needs to be reeled in and countered.
Humility is a reversal. It gives away the credit and absorbs the blame. It recognizes that what is good flows through us more than from us. At the same time, it refuses to outsource responsibility for what goes wrong.
Pride says, “I produced this.”
Humility says, “I was entrusted with this.”
Only one of these postures sustains real growth, free from corruption.
Quotes I Like:
“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”
“He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty.”
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
Mane Message
In Book of Numbers 20, Israel is again without water. The Israelites are in the middle of their 40-years in the desert, likely toward the end. And they are parched and constantly complaining about it.
The Israelites have been taken out of Egypt, and the Egypt is nearly out of them. But yet again, the people gather against Moses and Aaron in complaint.
God gives Moses an instruction to bring water to the people. He is to take his staff, assemble the congregation, and speak to the rock before their eyes. The rock will then bring water.
Moses gathers the people. But instead of calm obedience, frustration surfaces. “Shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then he lifts his staff and strikes the rock. Two times.
Though water still flows and the people drink, Moses has sinned.
God responds with a rebuke. Moses and Aaron did not uphold Him as holy before the people, and because of this, they will not lead Israel into the Promised Land.
When I read this, two things stand out to me.
First, Moses uses excess force. All he needed to do was speak. The miracle did not require striking. Moses’ action went beyond instruction, into a place of disobedience and force.
Second, Moses subtly removes God from the center. “Shall we bring water?” In one sentence, the line between servant and source blurs.
One of the many lessons that can be obtain from this story is that when you give yourself the unearned credit, you strip yourself of the unearned reward.
The water still flows. But Moses forfeits the future he had long anticipated.
The outcome looks successful from the outside, but something has subtly shifted. The miracle happens, yet Moses loses the future he had been faithfully pursuing for decades.
Don’t get the result at the expense of the reward.
Quick Thought
Though it is a punishment that Moses does not enter the Promised Land, there is still a quiet truth in it. There will always be more ahead of us than we can personally finish.
We are always reaching toward something—the next milestone, the next horizon. Since there is always more to do, there is always a meaning to wrestle with.
Weekly Ponder
Am I applying minimum necessary force, or am I taking extreme measures through my lack of faith?
What future am I forfeiting by elevating myself to a place where I do not belong?
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