Johnny Tucker, speaking at a gathering of evangelists, exhorted listeners to heed the words of evangelist Junior Hill, who said, "I want to finish [in ministry] with honor and dignity." Tucker warned of falling short of God's full vision by becoming insensitive to His voice.
Johnny Tucker urged the evangelists not to let sinful anger cause them to fall short of God's full vision for their lives.
He noted that Moses listened intently to God's instructions, citing Exodus 17:6, “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so.”
But later, during a similar instruction, Moses was too angry to hear the subtle difference in God's command: “Take the rod ... and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water,” (Numbers 20:8).
Moses was angry at his Hebrew flock for their disobedience, and as a result, he'd already broken the first stone tablets that contained the Ten Commandments. Tucker said Moses had taken his eyes off God and fixed them doggedly on the Hebrews, creating in him a dangerously wrong focus for anyone in ministry: an agenda to get back at the people who had angered him.
The Bible says, “... and [Moses] said unto them, 'Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?’ And 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,” (Numbers 20:8, 10-11).
Tucker's point was that part of being a Gospel minister includes dealing with difficult and messy people, and a Christian leader should never let anger dull his sensitivity to God's voice. Otherwise, Tucker said, “in the heat of battle, you may not hear the words of God correctly.”
Even though Moses did not follow God's specific instructions, Tucker noted that the water still flowed from the rock in abundance, and to those looking from a distance, the action appeared successful.
“But your success is never measured by how many people agree with you. Rather, it is measured by doing what God calls you to do regardless of how many agree with you,” Tucker said.
This disobedience by Moses was incredibly costly, Tucker noted. God brought him to within sight of the Holy Land, but then told Moses, “There it is! There is the land I swore to you, but you cannot go over to it,” (Deut. 34:4).
Tucker spoke of the magnitude of this tragedy, that God had placed this immense vision of the Holy Land within the heart of Moses, yet with the promise on the horizon, God told Moses he would not be allowed to complete the vision. And that is where he died.
“It makes you want to go back in the life of Moses and ask, 'What happened?'“ Tucker said. “The same thing has happened to the best of men.”
Moses is not unique when it comes to a vision from God planted in the heart: “God has a vision for you, too!”
“But over the last 42 years I have seen precious men of God no longer serving in ministry because they became bitter from the angry cry” of the people they serve, Tucker said.
“It doesn't matter where you've been or what you've done for God,” Tucker said. “If you develop an angry attitude -- 'Must we fetch water for you out of this rock, you rebels!’ -- you run the danger of hearing God say, 'I'll let you see it, but you can't have it.'“
“If there is a preacher here who has allowed bitter and angry words to move His eyes from You,” Tucker prayed, “Then bring his eyes back to you.”
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[Original illustration here was a duplicate in HolwickID 25837-26027]
