Ps.106:32, They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, So that it went hard with Moses on their account;
33, Because they were rebellious against His Spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.
Num. 20:11, Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. 12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
The victorious Christian life is the life of an overcomer. The word Overcomer indicates that there will be battles and temptations; in other words, things to overcome. The peace that passes all understanding that is the fruit of a life that is abiding victoriously in Christ isn’t a peace that’s the result of a conflict free life. Instead, it is a supernatural peace that can’t be understood because there is no logical reason to be experiencing it. It is the peace of Christ himself released and realized in our lives in the midst of conflict; not in the absence of conflict. The point I’m trying to make is this, using the peace of Christ as just one example, is that victorious Christian living isn’t dependent on the circumstances around you, or the behavior of the people around you. The life of victory that God has called us into is a life of overcoming supernaturally, regardless of what’s going on around you. The example of Moses in the Scriptures above is a powerful testimony of what I’m trying to say. At the waters of Mirabah Israel was once again complaining, and questioning the goodness and faithfulness of God. There was no water for them to drink, and even though God had performed miracle after miracle in their midst they still did not know his ways. Of course, God set them up once again to display his ability to manifest his power in the midst of the impossible. He told Moses to speak to a rock and to strike it once, and the result would be that water would flow from the rock, which was a type of Christ, like a river. Because Moses was so frustrated and angry with the people’s behavior he struck the rock twice instead of once. As a result of what he did Moses was denied the promised land because in their sight he did not treat God as holy when he struck the rock twice. He acted like somehow God needed his help with the extra blow to the rock. The Psalm 106 passage that I quoted indicates that the people, and their behavior played a part in Moses failure, but ultimately Moses was held personally accountable for what he did, not for what they did. You see, we can’t blame our unholy responses, and our unbelief and disobedience on the behavior of others around us, or toward us, or on the circumstances that we are surrounded by. I am in Christ, and therefore Christ is in me, and there is sufficient grace for me to walk in victory regardless of who or what is going on around me. If victory is dependent on everybody around me behaving, or all my circumstances being smooth, then that’s not victory at all. Even the world is happy when everything around them is going well. Christian victory is a victory that overcomes. Victims are always claiming to be overwhelmed. Because you are in Christ you are in union with his victory, and you’re not victims who forever can use the excuse that it’s not my fault that I sinned. Victims are always saying “if you could only understand my situation;” but the Holy Spirit is always saying if you really understood who you are in Christ then you would know you will never again face anything that Jesus isn’t big enough for, but you also will never have another excuse to not be Christlike from the inside out.