Numbers 12:1-15; Hebrews 13:17-18
We can benefit a lot from our spiritual leaders, no matter how we see them, or what we think about them. God has placed every spiritual leadership that we find ourselves under, for a purpose. The Bible in Romans 13:1-2 says: “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.” Therefore, every spiritual authority we find ourselves under; no matter how we think they are, we can benefit from them. On the contrary, we can experience affliction from dealing with our spiritual leaders, if we are not careful.
Sometimes we might believe that we know things more than our spiritual leader. This might be true in a way. But since God has placed them there for a purpose, we need to be careful how we deal with them. Let us consider what happened to Miriam and Aaron in Numbers chapter 12. Aaron and his sister Miriam, were older than Moses. So it came to a time that, I believe, the actions of Moses, and the fact that God was using him, got on their nerves. This is evident in their complaint: “They said, “has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” But the Lord heard them.” (Numbers 13:2)
God was angry with them for speaking against Moses, which also means they were speaking against him-God. God called them, showed them their sin, and went on to met out discipline or punishment. Aaron saw the punishment upon Miriam, and begged for forgiveness. Moses in turn, interceded for them, and God forgave. They would have paid dearly for their arrogance towards their spiritual Leader, not minding the fact that he was their younger brother. We should not allow jealousy to put us in a position where we would condescend so low as to talk evil of our spiritual leader. It will not go well with us.
In Hebrews 13:17, the Bible says: “Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.” This does not mean that we should not correct our spiritual leaders, or that they are above reproach. No! It means we should approach them with respect, and point out their mistakes with every amount of reverence. If they fail to change, it’s not our place to force them, or to resort to insult, blackmail or false accusations.
There are wonderful benefits we can get from our spiritual leaders by simply obeying them, and praying for them when we think they are not doing well. We would benefit greatly when we make them happy, and make their work easier, by assisting and not causing unnecessary trouble. As long as we mean well for them, no matter what their response to our actions might be, it will become a blessing.
I pray that God will forgive us for all the times we had made it difficult for our spiritual leaders to carry out their duties, and also ask that God should forgive our spiritual leaders for the mistakes they have also made. May God’s grace be upon us so that we would benefit from our spiritual leaders, and that we all would benefit from obeying God. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.
Papa Mbos 