STOP THAT CHARACTER DEFECT

7 THEN THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES, SAYING,
8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.”
9 SO MOSES TOOK THE ROD FROM BEFORE THE LORD AS HE COMMANDED HIM.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “HEAR NOW, YOU REBELS! MUST WE BRING WATER FOR YOU OUT OF THIS ROCK?”
11 THEN MOSES LIFTED HIS HAND AND STRUCK THE ROCK TWICE WITH HIS ROD; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
12 THEN THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES AND AARON, “BECAUSE YOU DID NOT BELIEVE ME, TO HALLOW ME IN THE EYES OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, THEREFORE YOU SHALL NOT BRING THIS ASSEMBLY INTO THE LAND WHICH I HAVE GIVEN THEM.”
13 This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the Lord, and He was hallowed among them."
Numbers 20:7-13 (NKJV)

Considering the above passage, a minister should be circumspect when It comes to the matter of relating or dealing with the people under his or her leadership.

The people you are leading can provoke and move you against God, If you are not careful. Moses was specifically instructed to speak to the rock but he struck the rock. This and a number of other reasons why God usually wants to take a would-be-minister through a number of challenges in order to temper him or her. God would want the emerging leader or minister to be tempered or qualified or softened or moderated through the influence of challenges that they might be allowed or permitted to go through. The hardship or challenges which the emerging leader or minister went through would make him or her stronger and more resilient and toughened (Philippians 4:11-13). Such would not be moved by the praise of men, people, and neither would such be moved by castigations or insults or derisions (1 Thessalonians 2:4).

Though what the people did was wrong, all the same, God would not want Moses to be angry to the point that he had to take the steps he was instructed him to take wrongly. God's indictment or allegation to Moses was, he did not believe and reverence Him before the people: "BECAUSE YOU DID NOT BELIEVE ME, TO HALLOW [reverence] ME IN THE EYES OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, THEREFORE YOU SHALL NOT BRING THIS ASSEMBLY INTO THE LAND WHICH I HAVE GIVEN THEM" (Numbers 20:12 NKJV).
God considered what Moses did as an act of unbelief and dishonour to His name. God's point was that If Moses did believe Him, he would not have struck the rock but would have just simply speak to the rock as He had instructed him (Numbers 20:7,8).

There are number of things that transpired that incident:
a. Moses spoke out of annoyance and called the people rebels (Numbers 20:10).
b. In Moses' statement, he said: must we bring water for you out of this rock? He acted as If he was the one to bring the water out (Numbers 20:10).

Leadership
Leading humans could be a grave responsibility and challenge. At times, It could be considered that animals are more pliable or controllable than humans. In every congregation, you would always have rebels, recalcitrant people who would not want to submit to the authority—whoever at the leadership (Numbers 16:1-3). This is where being meek comes into play. A leader or minister must have a large heart to accommodate the excessiveness of those who are rebellious among those who are being led (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

All along in their journey in the wilderness, Moses had been the advocate of the people (Exodus 32:7-14), but this time around, It was like, he could not bear what they did. And the consequences of his mistake or annoyance cost him the fulfillment of what he had laboured on for forty years; God said he would not complete the journey or assignment: " . . . THEREFORE YOU SHALL NOT BRING THIS ASSEMBLY INTO THE LAND WHICH I HAVE GIVEN THEM" (Numbers 20:12 NKJV).

As a ministry leader, If you would not want your fulfillment or the completion of your assignment to be truncated or aborted; you would do well to allow the Holy Spirit to deal with any character defect that could debar you from a successful completion—finishing well.

Moses had exhibited anger in a number of recorded cases in his life journey:
a. This anger of his made him kill an Egyptian who maltreated an Israelite in Egypt while they were in slavery, which made him run away and became a fugitive (Exodus 2:11,12; Acts 7:23,24).
b. The anger was also exhibited when he came down from the mountain, seeing the Israelites worshipping molded image, golden calf, in which he broke the two tablets of the commandments given to him by God: "SO IT WAS, AS SOON AS HE CAME NEAR THE CAMP, THAT HE SAW THE CALF AND THE DANCING. SO MOSES' ANGER BECAME HOT, AND HE CAST THE TABLETS OUT OF HIS HANDS AND BROKE THEM AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN" (Exodus 32:19). One would notice that, the tablets broken by him were cut and crafted and written on by God Himself (Exodus 32:15,16). However, whilst he was going back on the mountain, God had to give him the responsibility of cutting or hewing by himself another two tablets from the rock, and should bring them along to the top of the mountain (Exodus 34:1,2). Imagine how stressful and wearisome it would be, carrying two tablets cut from the rock and climbing the mountain with them—that was the consequences of breaking those tablets given to him by God. He should have not broken those tablets because what the people did had nothing to do with the tablets that were given to him by God.

You should deal with any character defect in you and not allow it to fester or cause an increasing poisoning, irritation, or bitterness in your life; If you did not, It might stop you at the peak point of fulfillment in your assignment. God had never said anything about Moses' anger, but He was condoning him, expecting him to know better and deal with it. If you had a character defect, and you are still being used by God, in which the anointing of God on your life is still flowing; endeavour to work on it and put it off. Pray that God will help you to overcome it. Do not be deceived or carried away by the fact that you are still being used mightily in spite of the character defect, God is just being patient or forborne, condoning you, It does not mean He did approve the defect in your life (Romans 2:4). If that defect would not stop you at the peak of your fulfillment in the ministry work, you would do well to work on how to stop or put an end to It now.
Peace.