How to bow down... to the renown

How did the politicians from the Primary Election...
crawl into the pages of my Bible today?
I thought I'd had enough of them.

But then I guess, people have haven't really changed all that much
in these thousands of years.
​
Now Korah... the son of Levi,
with Dathan and Abiram... sons of Reuben, took men; 
and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel,
two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation,
representatives of the congregation... men of renown. 
They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them,
“You take too much upon yourselves,
for all the congregation is holy, every one of them,
and the Lord is among them.
Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”
So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face; 
and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying,
“Tomorrow morning
the Lord will show who is His
​and who is holy...
Numbers 16:1-5

Can you just picture these same men...
the men of renown as our politicians of today?
Wow!
They way they throw around insults and accusations.
Then to jump in and defend their reputation...
almost as if the game requires them to pick up more mud and sling it.

Well not Moses.
Look at his posture... when over 250 men are taking shots at him...
just after he took heat a couple days ago from Miriam and Aaron.
It seems his self-image is really being called into account.
If he doesn't really know that God is for him...
that God called him for this purpose,
then he may just run and hide.
I know I would.

But Moses... falls on his face.
And he's not begging for mercy.
He's continuing the conversation...
speaking to Korah, telling him that God will prove what is holy.
But he's doing so from a humble posture... because he KNOWS who he is.
And he KNOWS Who's he is.

I wonder...
can we say the same?
Do we know Who's we are?
Do we know the purpose we are called for?
Have we truly come to a place that we are secure in our identity in Christ?

I admit that I struggle with this.
These are men of renown.
That word completely struck me today.
That means they have a reputation with the people.
It stands for distinction, notoriety, prestige... even fame.

These guys are the "popular" ones... the "in-crowd."
And often they are the ones we so want to impress.
They are the ones we want to "like" our status,
or re-tweet our clever statements.
If they "follow" us... we have really made it in society.

But Moses falls on his face before them.
He doesn't even look them in the eye, get red faced and tell them off.
And it's not that he's not mad, frustrated, or stirred by their rebellion.
Look at verse 15... Moses was very angry...
But still, he did not take measures into his own hands.
He let God, be God.

This certainly is not the same Moses we saw back in Exodus 3,
when he encounters God in a burning bush.
For back then, all he can say is... Who am I?
​He gives excuses why he is not enough, not qualified...
trying to convince God to send someone else.

But God has brought him a long way since then...
God has walked with Moses,
and Moses has walked with God.
They have spent time together.
And they have become friends.

Oh that I could have such a humble spirit to bow before my enemies...
and such a confidence in God, that I know my calling so certainly
that they cannot stir me to strike back...
or to give in to simply pleasing them.

Oh that I too can walk with God...
and we can become friends.

Word of God... train me, today...
to know... that I know who I am in You,
to know... that I know Who's I am, holy and pleasing for a purpose.

Lord God,
thank You for showing me
this amazing man of Moses.
Thank You that he humbled his heart before men.
Thank You that he showed me what it truly looks like
to know the identity of a person with purpose
who belongs wholly to You...
holy and pleasing for a purpose.

Fine tune my heart to be more like Moses...
and less like the rebellious men of renown.