Jealous that God isnt using you as he is others (Numbers 12)

Have you ever been jealous that God isn't using you or hasn't gifted you as he has others. Perhaps you wish you had the voice of the person who sings so beautifully, or the words of the speaker who seems to do it with such ease and eloquence.

In the story below, Moses own siblings had been with him on an amazing journey, had been delivered from Egypt and now had the audacity (boldness) to turn on their own brother and on a God who had chosen to use Moses.

Moses must have thought to himself, if you only knew the 40 years of preparation I had to go through to be prepared for this and now your jealous?? Do you have any idea of the enormous responsibility I am being held accountable for?

Numbers 12 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)
Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

12 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. ² “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.

³ (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
⁴ At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. ⁵ Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, ⁶ he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you,
    I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
    I speak to them in dreams.
⁷ But this is not true of my servant Moses;
    he is faithful in all my house.
⁸ With him I speak face to face,
    clearly and not in riddles;
    he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
    to speak against my servant Moses?”

⁹ The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.

¹⁰ When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous^[a]—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, ¹¹ and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. ¹² Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”
¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”
¹⁴ The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” ¹⁵ So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
¹⁶ After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran

In our day and age when we all think we know best, are we prepared to pay attention when God is using someone else to speak to us, to lead us, or are we jealous and think we know best?

How many times do we question leadership, even leadership at church? Do we know how God has spoken to them, what he is asking them to do? Are we questioning God when we question them?

Yes they are human and prone to the same errors in judgement we all make. Yes they may not be as sensitive to God's spirit as we think they should be and the list could go on and on. They too are on the same journey of growth we are on.

The question is do we have their back in a God honouring way. If they are truly misguided, are we acting appropriately and taking the matter to God in prayer and then perhaps addressing them or are we spreading discontent?

How am I being a team player?