Moses chiseled out two stone tablets and met God on the mountain. They had a committee meeting of two where God wrote the well-known yet rarely obeyed ten commandments on Moses’ tablets.
What a glorious event that must have been: the ultimate mountain-top experience.
And then real life happened: Moses descended the mountain. Glory fled and anger moved in. While Moses and God had been meeting, Aaron and the children of Israel had created that silly golden calf and were partying unbridled. When Moses saw the people breaking every commandment, his anger took over and he threw down the stone tablets. The achievement from the mountain became a pile of rubble.
I have been there: attended a remarkable church service, enjoyed a special time with family, or celebrated a momentous occasion, then suddenly, everything fell apart and I found myself sounding like a marine sergeant yelling at the kids and handing out punishments right and left, carrying on in an Archie Bunker rant about something. I never dropped stone tablets with God’s handwriting on them, but I came close.
When I recently read the 34th chapter of Exodus, I felt that God talking to me about justifying my actions and attitudes by blaming others.
After Moses broke the two tablets, this is what God said to him:
“Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.” ~Exodus 34:1
Think about that. God never indicated that anyone besides Moses was to blame for the broken tablets. The three little words, “which you broke,” indicate that God noticed and considered Moses’ actions without justifying them with the circumstances. However, God did not berate Moses. The Chairman of the two-man committee understood.
You broke the tablets, so you need to get another set.
How simple is that? If I had been Moses, I would have spent a few minutes or hours explaining why I broke the tablets. It wasn’t actually my fault.
I would not have yelled at my kids IF they had not . . .
I would not have had a bad attitude IF. . .
I would not have . . . IF . . .
I am learning to go to my Father about my actions, thoughts, and attitudes and not waste His time by explaining why or pointing my finger at the cause.
It’s a tough lesson and I’m still learning.
It seems others are still learning this lesson as well. I just read the headline, “Woman driving the wrong way blames oncoming traffic for crash.”
