"Reset Button"

Reset Button
Good morning.- Today's power scripture comes from Numbers 20:12 (ESV):  “¹²But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!””

Yesterday I wrote about the advantages of using the guidelines on the lane floor to assist in making a strike while bowling; how focus and strategy and staying in your lane would garner success. But what happens when we are distracted; when things do not go as we plan, hope or wish?  What can we expect if we accidentally or purposefully stray from the path of our destiny? What are possible consequences if we do not follow God’s instructions or guidelines? Moses found out about this the hard way. In bowling if we totally mess up and drift from the proven directives,  we may often end up in the gutter; the no-man’s land on the edges of existence.  When this happens, no pins are hit and the mechanical arm will engage and sweep the area clear.  New pins are set into place and the ball is returned so the bowler can give it another try.  Same lane, same ball but a new set of pins and another chance.

   In the scripture text for today we see that God has pronounced a ‘reset’ for Moses because he strayed from the commandment he was given.  While on their trek through the wilderness, the children of Israel cried out for sustenance. Previously when the travelers needed water, God instructed Moses to strike the rock and it gushed with life-giving fluid.  Now this time when water was needed, God set up the lane with the right provision (rock); provided the guidelines (Moses was to speak to the rock) and gave Moses the ball. Instead of following the guidelines which would have assured a ‘win’ in the situation, Moses was distracted and he dropped the ball into the gutter.  God swept his arm of judgment over the situation and knocked down all the pins and reset the game.  From the outside it might seem as if things were successful… the pins were all down…the water was flowing from the rock and the people were satisfied.  But Moses paid a price for his disobedience.  Because of his act, God did not allow him to enter into the Promised Land. His reset was permanent.

There are plans and paths that God has set into motion for us to follow and when we act on our own, like Moses or Jonah, God gives us the liberty of freedom of choice; and at first it might seem that our foolish disregard for God’s way is still OK.  Things appear to be rolling along smoothly.  Moses did make water appear from the rock and the people and animals were able to quench their ravaging thirst.  But when our liberty of freedom choices bumps heads with the will of the God of Creation – it is not an even contest.  God wins every time; his directives, his ultimate plans will be done. 

Have you made or are thinking about some decision or move that you know is in direct contradiction to the direction that God wants you to go?  Is the Holy Spirit’s urging grating up against you like sandpaper?  Don’t let your life be a series of ‘resets’ where you have to keep starting over and never gaining any real points. God does not hide his desires from you; stop fighting the natural flow like a fish spawning upstream; don’t dwell in the gutter when God wants to crown you with victory.

Every day is a good day; it is up to us to make it a power-packed GREAT day! Be blessed! Dr. JoAnn

Audio version:   http://youtu.be/4QnYfo8omGg