Results matter; they inspire; they influence. Someone has said that “everything bows to the superiority of results.” I agree with that. However, in God, it is not just what you achieve in this life that matters, but how you get it. In God, how you get the result is even more important than the result. In God, process matters.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus Christ referred to Himself as ‘the Way’? You see, how you get your results matter to God.

At one point in their journey to the Promised Land, the people of Israel were thirsty and needed water. God told Moses how to go about it; He gave Moses a method.

God told Moses to speak to the rock.

“Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
~ Numbers 20:8

Moses however did something else.

“Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.”
~ Numbers 20:11

As you can see, it still worked.  However, it attracted a curse and cost him the ultimate.

“But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
~ Numbers 20:12

The promise of the Lord must come through the process of the Lord, else it is not His blessing, and will bring untold sorrows, hardships, and ultimately cost you everything.

The instruction of the Lord here was very clear: Speak to the rock, But what did Moses do? He raised his arm and struck the rock twice.

He got the result – water poured out of the rock and the people’s thirst was quenched. However, he missed the method – instead of speaking to the rock, he struck it twice. As you can see here, it is possible to create God’s end without His means. And as you can see, it’s a very dangerous thing to do. It cost Moses the Promised Land.

What’s the point in sacrificing the ultimate for the immediate? I see no point in that.