Hand Picked

 

He was the other brother

Not the pesky younger one. But the stumbling older one.

What a pair they made. Moses, raised as a king, exiled as a murderer and sent as deliverer for the people of Israel.

Then there was Aaron, raised as a slave, selected as a spokesman.

It was a family affair needed to pull off the greatest rescue mission in all of Egypt.

Moses had his problems but Aaron it seems, was a ball of issues. In the absence of Moses, he was selected to lead and lead he did. He led Israel right back to the worship of an Idol which ended up in a deadly price paid for the fledgling nation1.

As if that wasn’t enough, he decided along with Miriam his sister, that he deserved premium position when compared with Moses and that did not exactly go well either; with Mariam suffering instant leprosy and having to be banished from the camp.2

You would think that with all of these, God would pick another assistant for Moses. Surely among the two million newly freed slaves, there had to be someone else who had more of a backbone than Aaron who was basically a poster child for nepotism. Or maybe God was just making do, he had found Aaron and he just needed to bear with him until someone better came along – wrong again.

Turns out I wasn’t the only one thinking Aaron could be replaced. Another group of elders brought up the point that there were more qualified men to lead, and this time God decided he was going to settle it.3

Every tribe was to bring a representative that could be a leader, including Levi -represented by Aaron- and all twelve men were to submit their staffs to the tabernacle.

In the morning, not only had Aarons staff budded, it had produced almonds.

That was God putting a seal on the one he had chosen. Aaron wasn’t there necessarily because he was skilled or better. He was there because he was chosen and in God’s hands, the dry stick which symbolized his life was fruitful.

The road of discipleship is a lot of things except easy, and it’s hard not to question someone’s calling when you see them stumble. Even harder is suppressing the urge to not question your standing when you stumble. Let’s face it. There will always be someone younger, stronger, more eloquent and for all appearances, more usable than you, but God doesn’t make decisions the way we make decisions, and the truth is, when He does release His breath – regardless of how dry our lives and circumstances may seem to be- we can bear fruit for His kingdom and His glory, in the face of the plethora of people who seemingly have everything together.

You are his child but you’re also His chosen

Yours is a higher calling with a lot more impact than you can ever imagine

And He’s chosen you in spite of you.

Now live the life He’s called you to live.

 

 

1 Gen 32 v 22-27

2 Numbers 12 v 1 -12

3 Numbers 17 v 6-8