Moses exemplified the God inspiration & perfection distinction

Numbers 20

7And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

8Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

9And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.

10And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?

11And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

12And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

Moses was given a very simple command, to speak to the rock and let God’s miracle produce the water. Moses had the inspiration from God that water could be retrieved from the rock, but chose to go about that through his own means. It is important to note that water still sprang forth for the people, and was miraculous, but the change from words to rod fell short of the glory of God.

How easy it must be for people who follow God in all walks to fall short of the glory of God, even when their words or actions are inspired by God in the first instance. A life of quality fellowship and prayer are again the backstops for a person who hears another proclaim they speak or write in direct inspiration from God, while the message appears to fall short of true glory and perfection. Look at the long and varied history of the bible and its construction, and wonder how you can trust the will of many men you never knew with so much, when Moses could not be trusted with this one small command.

While fellowship and learning is important, the first port of call should always be personal prayer. God yearns for that personal contact, and the more you make of that contact, the better your communication becomes as you learn to be honest with your emotion before God. There are men with sermons and ancient books with words that can be important stepping stones for inspiration in prayer, but never let the self proclamation of God inspiration force you to accept the message as God perfection in the face of your own doubts.

If Moses can get something as simple as speaking to a rock wrong, it does not hurt you to doubt the words and actions of others under the same principle. Explore your doubts with prayer, fellowship, and humility, and your faith will be better for it.

Also take heed of two possible metaphors in the story:

Beware striking with a rod instead of a gentle word, you may fall short of the glory of God.

Miracles are provided for people in need, not as an affirmation of what may be their flawed spiritual leader(s). You can be in the wrong and still witness miracles.