Verses for Vessels

 "You came back and wept before the Lord, but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you. And so you stayed in Kadesh many days—all the time you spent there. Then we turned back and set out toward the wilderness along the route to the Red Sea, as the Lord had directed me. For a long time we made our way around the hill country of Seir. Then the Lord said to me, “You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north"- Deuteronomy 1:45-46; 2:1-3 (NIV)

Turbo

In 2013, DreamWorks produced a much loved children and family entertainment movie called Turbo, with many Hollywood A-list as casts. With a budget of about $127million, the movie went on to generate over $280million in Box office revenue that year1; not bad for an animated movie about a snail. Turbo, in the movie, is a speed-obsessed snail with a rather unusual dream. It wanted to become the world's greatest racer. Thanks to some bizarre accident, it acquires super speed power and embarks on a quest to enter and win a motor racing competition in Indianapolis. With great encouragement from his friends, a real determination to succeed, and some macho guts, Turbo overcomes his own personal limitations and wins the race. Fascinating stuff! And it was not just the kids who loved it. In real life though, snails or molluscs in general are not the best companions if you were looking to have a training partner for a speed race, let alone being contestants themselves. They are slow and lethargic, and can be very sensitive. Rather, you would need someone who understands directions; someone who has steady feet, is focused, and has some toughness of skin as it were; someone that would be good to go.

Hmm.. Yes? ish?

Ever had the privilege of sending your eight year old on an errand to the next room, while they are watching some children's movie. If yours are like mine, you may have to put in the request a few more times. Then they may get up, with their eyes still on the telly you find that their feet are walking straight into a wall because their minds are still on the telly and the movie. When they manage to locate the door, they linger there, not wanting to miss a moment of the movie, still taking it all in. Ok, its fifteen minutes later, and by this time your patience may be running on empty.  You reckon it would have been better to simply go get the stuff yourself. And now, you notice they finally left the room. Relief!... Only to return a few seconds later to ask, "What was it you wanted me to get Dad?" And you muse to yourself, "If only you just focused, listened, and went as directed, the first time!" I'm sure many parents can relate. 

All that time...

In today’s passage, after the Lord had told the Israelites that they could not enter the Promise Land because of their unbelief, they still decided to go back into the promise land by themselves and fight. But Moses counselled them against this; they wouldn’t hear him. They had cried and wept, but God did not care much for their show. He had said- “Go back towards the Red Sea!” But they wanted to have their way; this was repentance their own way.  They went on and fought and lost and returned to God... and still stayed there! You could almost feel Moses’ frustration as he narrates this ordeal, adding at the end of chapter one, “all the time you spent there”. You see that short phrase reveals the state of heart we often have when we have either focused on what we want to do at the expense of what God has asked us to do.  Many people hear God’s instructions and their response is not so different. We know enough to understand that such is expected of us but we struggle to give up on how we want to see things pan out. As such we find our response is terribly distracted at best, or damagingly mollusc at worst. God says, “Go”, but we spend time sulking at what we think we may lose by obeying God.  Even when we don’t say a definite ‘No’, we employ several reasons why we shouldn’t be expected to obey ‘Now’, thereby delaying His agenda for us. They were unwilling to obey and may have thought: “Perhaps if we wept and cried long enough; what if we did other charitable works instead. We could sponsor others to go.  Perhaps if we did any or all of these things, perhaps, over time, we may find that God would change his mind and let us back into the promise land”. But God is not a man2. God said, “God back!” He meant what he said. Yet, look at all the time they spent there. They were dragging their feet. But delayed obedience is also disobedience, for the king’s matter requires urgency3.

Once again...

Who knows why the Lord has brought this text to your attention today. I believe He wants to end delays in every area of our lives; but we must walk His route. We have to trust Him and not let our lusts, or fears, get in the way. As long as we insist on making our own way, we forfeit the grace that could have been ours. It is true that some things will take time, but whatever time it takes must be such as He has ordained and not the ones we have unwittingly added. And He makes ALL things beautiful in its time4. In fact I believe that God will often get us to His destinations much quicker than human systems can afford or comprehend; but even more importantly, without all the unnecessary detours, distractions, and devils, that our own ways can usher. If we are willing and obedient we can get there quicker. It happened to Abraham. In Genesis 12:5 he arose to go into Canaan and into Canaan he came5.  God wants you and I to arise and to get into what He has promised us without delays or detours. But we can only do so if we trust Him. So let’s rid ourselves of sluggish obedience and hypersensitivity to fear. In His love, God will call us out for wasting precious time. He will come again and again to lead us back in the straight path. I don’t know about you, but this may be a second chance for someone to get up and “Go as they were commanded”6. There should be no further excuses. Let us determine to win the race of prompt obedience at every turn, as we walk with the Lord.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for your grace and your Word. Once again I have heard your voice. Deliver me from every distraction that besets me today. I choose to move forward with you today in every area of my life. May my heart, and my feet, be swift to obey your voice, this day and always.  

References:

1) Wikipedia  .2) Numbers 23:19  .3) 1 Samuel 21:8  .4) Eccl 3:11   .5) Genesis 12:5   .6) Ezekiel 12:7