#RyanTalks - 'Obeying God's Voice' Part 3 - Accountability

At the very beginning of time when God created Adam, we saw that Adam was told not to eat the apple from the forbidden tree. Now,his wife Eve, ate from the Apple tree. She believed the Serpent over God. Eve then gave the Apple to Adam, he knew clearly that God told him to not the Apple. He went ahead which then caused God to punish both Adam and Eve, just because they disobeyed God and for their lack of belief. So we see that this disobedience and lack of belief mentality started with Adam and Eve and then carried on. 

Carrying on with the theme of 'Obeying God's Voice', we saw that The Children of Israel perished in the wilderness due to their lack of belief and disobedience. You could say that they were held accountable for their actions.
Now, we never saw anything mentioned about Moses reaching the Promise Land. Why could this be? Well, due to Moses disobeying and also doubting himself and God, he too was held accountable for his actions.

Understandably, Moses would have questions. Before you start something, get that out the way before you accept. There's no point accepting and after you start asking questions i.e. What If I say the wrong thing or What If they don't believe me etc.
At the beginning of the task, God spoke to Moses at the Burning Bush. The Instructions were clear but Moses doubted himself which itself was very dangerous. For every excuse, God provided him with an answer. During this Journey we see that because Moses doubted himself, the Children of Israel doubted his every word. How can you lead a community when you doubt yourself, it didn't give them the confidence. 
When we don't feel confident about ourselves, other people will not be confident in us which could cause us to lose our position. 

So, Lets look at what the term Accountable and Accountability means.
Accountable - required or expected to justify actions or decisions, responsible
 - able to be explained or understood

Accountability - the state of being accountable, liable, or answerable

Lets look at why Moses never reached the Promise Land. In Deuteronomy 32, we see that God talked to Moses. Think of it like being hauled into the director's office and now having to explain your actions. This is what God told Moses.

Deuteronomy 32 v 51 - 52
"Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
Yet thou shalt see the land before thee but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel"

So, Moses actually saw the Promise Land, he could see it from the distance. God allowed him to see it from where he was but he was not allowed to enter. Imagine having your dream or vision in front of you snatched away at the last minute. I'd imagine you'd be upset, angry with yourself, wondering what you did to deserve it.
Moses didn't obey what had God told him and in turn he was held accountable for his actions. Now, lets take an actual look at what went down which caused Moses to miss the Promise Land

Numbers 20 v 7 - 12
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.”

Just before that, the Children of Israel had complained to Moses and Aaron that was no water, so they in turn went to the Lord and asked for a solution. The Lord clearly told Moses directly to speak to the rock and water will come out but Moses had other plans. Instead, he struck the rock twice, it still brought out water but not the way the Lord told him to do it. So, with that, The Lord confronted them and basically said that because they didn't believe him, they were not to enter the Promise Land. 
There were yet more reasons which given which caused Moses to miss the Promise Land. 
1 - Moses disobeyed a direct command from God
2 - Moses took all the credit for bringing out the water, rather than credit it to God
3 - Moses did this act in front of the Israelites, such public disobedience could not be allowed 

So, before being told he would not be allowed to lead the Israelites into the Promise Land, I wonder if Moses attempted to explain his actions. So, we can clearly see that because Moses did not believe in God, he was punished and was held accountable. 

Let's look at this in a more simpler term:
You are a Project Manager, the Project is to successfully transition your team from one area of the country to another area. A lot needs to be done, you are given a partner to help you. You have now left the area and are now hitched up halfway. You then doubt then you will be able to carry out the job, so to make life easier, you do things your own way. 
It brings a result but now you have embarrassed the directors, you are displaying you have no faith in their ways even though it has worked for many years. As a result, you are called in. They say that you can see the finished work but you can not lead the project and as result you must leave. Your reputation is now ruined and if you apply for other jobs, the chances look bleak because you lack belief and obedience.
Personally, I would be upset but I can't blame anyone but myself. As a result, I am now being held accountable for my actions.

Let's learn from Moses, when given a task or a project, we should clearly follow the set guidelines and work with it. Even if you have your own ideas, save that for your own project. For now, prove that you are the man for the job and you will find favor on other projects.
If you can get an Accountable Partner, make sure they won't let you slip or fall away. They should be able to keep you on the correct path.

God gave Moses a direct command, he disobeyed and now he had to face the penalty - not leading the Children of Israel and not entering the Promised Land.

We are Accountable for our own Actions, no one else but us. Let's make right decisions, head down the right path, start listening and more importantly let's finish the job.