Stuck on Rewind
Have you ever felt like you were living your life on rewind? Here comes the same mess again. Hits you smack dab in the face. The same dilemma you dealt with last year. Like a boomerang it finds you again. Just when you thought you had overcome that issue and laid it to rest. Buried. Dead. Gone. And now, here it is again. Resurrected as strong as Jesus. You can't help but wonder who pushed the rewind button. Must have been a demon with a king sized remote control, aimed right at you.
The Israelites could relate. For 40 years, they rambled just outside of the Promised Land. Like distorted directions on a shampoo bottle, gather, wince, repeat, they followed a dusty path. Round and round they went. I've often wondered how they could be so close to their destination and never arrive. My ponderings ceased when I was reminded of my own wasteland wanderings. So many of God's promises for me simulated a mysterious mirage; the closer I got, the further they appeared to be. Some of those promises remained a stone's throw away for years. My lack of vision deceived me.
What can we do when our faith is stuck on a wander-rewind mode? We have to change our focus. A lack of focus makes our destination blurry and breeds disappointment. We must acquire God's vision to stay on course.
The very first command that God gave to Joshua when he took over leadership after Moses' death was, "Do not be discouraged!" God knew if the people were going to walk in victory, they would have to discard the ways of their parents. They could not walk the same way. They would have to move in a new direction. If they followed the wrong people, they would end up in the wrong place. If they acted like their parents, they would wander. If they murmured and complained, they would not arrive at their destination.
The Bible calls them Israelites, but I think they were really more like "Issue-ites," a people bound with Issue-itis. And we thought issues were a recent phenomena. Not so. The issues of life go way back to Old Testament days. The Israelites were so bound with a lack of vision that it took them 40 years to travel a few miles. They just keep going around the mountain again and again, all the while complaining. They never learned to travel a different way. They were too afraid to push past the giants that blocked the access to their Promised Land.
Most of us can relate. We bury a problem only for it to resurface again. We've got to quit tolerating our repeat issues and learn how to press on. Most of the time we tolerate things because we don't know how to get out of the rut but the remedy is a simple shift in our focus. The remedy for wandering is to visualize our victory. When we keep our gaze focused straight ahead on the promise, our vision improves. We can see, perceive and receive.
Carving a new trail is hard at first. It takes determination. It takes willpower. It takes courage to face our fears and get out of our comfort zone. We must move forward anyway. Courage is nothing more than well-concealed fear. Bravery doesn't mean that we aren't afraid. It just means that fear doesn't prevent us from pressing on.
So the next time your issues threaten to rewind, meditate on the Lord's instructions in the book of Joshua. Then throw away the remote and visualize your victory!
Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:6-9
