All Families Squabble Sometimes
"Mirian and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite." -- Numbers 12:1
How many families have ever not had a fuss over something or other? Not a one. We're human and we're going to disagree. It's how we handle it that matters in the end.
Miriam, Aaron and Moses were family. God called Moses to lead His people and Aaron and Miriam did what they could to help Moses during the long and trying journey. But as Moses followed God, his brother and sister grew jealous. Obviously, they couldn't just confront him with their jealousy. So they picked on his wife.
How like us to do the same thing. We won't admit we're jealous of our sister's new outfit so we make a nasty comment about the extra 10 lbs. she recently added. Or we play down our brother's promotion in an effort to feel better about ourselves and our own dead end job.
Fortunately, Moses had God around to take care of his situation. The result? God got angry and Mirian became leprous. Aaron begged Moses to intercede with God, and he did. God relented and only banished her from the camp for seven days. She was humiliated but at least it wasn't permanent.
Maybe we should keep that in mind the next time we're tempted to hold a grudge against someone we love. We all make mistakes. There are going to be jealous spats, hurt feelings and brushed egos in every family. It's the learning to apologize and move on that makes all the difference.
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