Depression, Anger, Stress, and Trust

Depression, Anger, Stress, and Trust August 13, 2012

Depression, Anger, Stress, and Trust

Depression, Anger, Stress, and Trust

The entire Israelite community entered the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and they settled in Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.” (Numbers 20:1, HCSB)

Many people have talked about the consequences of Moses’ anger when he struck the rock. Moses was commanded to speak to the rock but instead spoke out of anger. As a result, Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. But what was the source of the anger? Why did Moses get frustrated with the Israelites? Was it only because they grumbled and complained, or was there something else going on in his life?

Numbers 20 opens with the sister of Moses, named Miriam, who died. Moses was grieving this difficult loss. So while Moses was grieving, instead of comforting him, others complained. How difficult it must have been for Moses to deal with the loss of his sister and the complaints of the people at the same time. He had lost a very close family member. But instead taking the time to comfort him, the people argued with Moses over the favoritism they thought Moses was receiving. 

Could it be that because Moses was grieving, that his emotions were unable to handle the stress of the disobedience of the people? The potentially depressive episode in Moses’ life leads him to be angry at the people. As a result, Moses is stressed out. The entire experience prevents Moses from listening to God. His emotions are difficult to handle that Moses has a hard time hearing and trusting God. It causes Moses to stop trusting God. The stress gets Moses to stop trusting God and ultimately, Moses disobeys God. Moses regrets the disobedience. But he is emotionally drained from the entire experience. Sometimes, we too need to watch out for our emotions and keep them from allowing ourselves to be stressed out. We should not let our stress get to us in such a way that we are unable to trust and obey God. 

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash


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