Breaking the Rules

This morning I was reading in Exodus where Moses comes down from meeting with God with the famous stones inscribed with the ten commandments. If you don't know the story, Moses finds the Israelites worshiping a golden calf that they made out of their jewelry. I'm sure this was bizarre to Moses as he carried these tablets down. I can just imagine it, as he reads the first commandment that he's holding, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." I'm pretty sure they had the KJV back then.(sorry that comment was a cheap shot). Anyway, I can see him looking up at God's people not even living up to the first commandment. That must have been disheartening to say the least. So, Moses reaction is one of anger, and he actually throws the tablets down and they broke. That's the sum of the story.
This morning I was reading Exodus 34, and something struck me. Here's the passage that got my attention:

"The LORD said to Moses, "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 (niv)

It's almost like you can hear God talking in a condescending voice as He says, "the first tablets, which you broke." It made me wonder if Moses learned a lesson in anger at the point. More importantly, it showed me something about myself. As a leader, and really as a Christ-follower, I need to be careful in how I instruct people when they are off-based in their life. I think we have a definite problem in our world with Christians going off the handle and condemning others. We are seeing abortion clinics bombed and harassed, and funerals being protested. Where's the love in that?
Of course the Bible says in Ephesians to speak the truth in love. Above every emotion that exists, I must love people no matter what. Sometimes for me to love some people, I have to avoid them, because some people just want to fight. But really, most people want to be loved, and that's a huge part of our calling as Christians.
So, as Moses comes down the mountain and sees the Israelites breaking the rules, what does he do? He literally throws down and breaks the rules. Anger is powerful, especially when we don't have a handle on it. So, the next time I see someone breaking the rules, I need to react in a way where I won't break the rules in return.

Is My Father Still Living?

I recently was studying Genesis, and came to the story of Joseph. His brothers had come to Egypt because of the famine. They came to get supplies, but unbeknown to them, their brother Joseph, was governing the land and the food supply plan that they were coming to. The setting is really a pretty tense one, because Joseph hasn't revealed himself to his brothers, the ones who sold him into slavery, because of their jealousy and pride. Now, they are face to face with their brother and they don't know it yet.
When I put myself in Joseph's shoes, I can't help but wonder how I would handle the situation. There would be bitterness and a sense of betrayal. So, when Joseph revealed who he was to his brothers, the first thing he asked them is in Genesis 45:3,

"Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am Joseph! Is my father still living?'"

As I saw Joseph facing a problem, and asking about his earthly father first, I realized that when I run into problems in my life, I need to ask myself, "Is my Father still living?" If God is still alive, then I should not fret about earthly things. I need to learn trust in the midst of my problems, because my Father is definitely still living.