First Reading:  Numbers 11:25-29

The Spirit of God

Sometimes mystery shrouds God's will. We expect God to act in a certain way only to be surprised. These can be times of insight or frustration.

This passage lies in the story of the grumbling Israelites who desired meat, not just manna. Addressing God, Moses lamented over their demands. God answered Moses' prayer by gathering the leaders and sending quail meat to the Israelites. But God afflicted the people for their greed with a plague. Hence, the place was called "Graves of Greed."

Moses could not lead the people alone. God used others as his instruments, including those not recognized as leaders [25-26]. The spirit of God gave the gift of prophecy, not the Israelite chain of command. That fact did not stop Joshua, Moses' right hand man, from objecting. But Moses sees clearly; who can tell God what to do? Moses, then, wished that all God's people had his Spirit, so all could share his intimacy and be his instruments [28-29]

There is old saying: God wants followers, not advisors. When God does not do what we want him to do, we might get angry at God; worse yet, we might be tempted to give up on God. When we are scandalized by God's will, is the source of scandal God or our desire to control God?

When was the last time you were tempted to get mad at God? What happened?  How did you learn from your temptation?