One Wrong Turn

Christmas of 2010 we purchased our first GPS – for Nathan. We did so because Nathan was at college in an unfamiliar city and we wanted to make sure that he could safely get around. But we also went by the local AAA office to pick up a free city map. The reason: we found that the GPS did not always give accurate directions. We wanted him to see the big picture and not just where he was on the screen of the GPS. How many times have we heard news stories about people getting lost in the wilderness or driving into a lake because they were following the GPS voice?

Having the right directions makes all the difference in the world when you are going some place. It is equally important to use a little brain power.

I mean, really, didn’t you wonder why you were being directed onto dirt road after dirt road? Did you really NOT see a large body of water? When you pulled into a parking lot and the voice in the box said, “300 feet until you arrive at your destination” as you drove into the front doors of the store, did it ever occur to you to look around and say to yourself, “Something just isn’t right about this.”? Just sayin’.

Sadly, I was reminded again this week the importance of making right decisions, of following God’s plan and not my own, or someone else’s. I was reminded that it is important to trust in the big picture of God’s plan and not just what I think I can see around me.

Many times we believe when we hear that someone falls in sin that they did so at that moment; that that is the decision making moment. However, that is not the case. There is always a time sometime in the past when the individual decided they are going to do it their way and not God’s way.

I cannot tell you the number of times people have told us that they wanted to serve God, but they put conditions on their service. While that sounds wonderful, spiritual even, that they wanted to serve the Lord, the problem was that they knew that God was opening doors for them to move to another ministry or place of service. They wanted to serve God their way, not God’s way. That was the wrong turn, the defining moment. From that point forward any decision made that did not lead back to what God was calling them to do, led them further and further away from God. Once you decide to not follow God, once you place conditions, however spiritual and well-meaning they sound, wrong decisions slowly become a way of life in every aspect of life. Numbness to the things and leading of God sets in. Things you would never consider doing… well, they are easily rationalized away.

We see this in Genesis with Cain and Abel. Adam had taught Cain and Abel the proper way to worship God – through a blood sacrifice. One day Cain brought the first fruits of his labor (fruits and vegetables) to sacrifice unto the Lord. Abel did likewise of the animals of his flock.

To be honest, Cain sounds like he was doing the right thing. He was offering a sacrifice. What is wrong with that? He was worshipping God. What is wrong with that? In Cain’s attempt to serve God, to worship Him, to follow Him, he failed to do so according to God’s plan. All the “right” things that Cain did became wood, hay and stubble in God’s eyes.

Abel followed God’s plan, Cain did not. Cain wanted to worship the Lord his way, not in the way that God said was right. The Bible says that Cain became “wroth” (angry, steamed, furious, livid, ticked, etc.) and that his “countenance fell”. In other words, you could clearly see he was angry and upset.

And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. Genesis 4:8

In the above verse we see that time elapsed. Cain had not realized that he needed to go back and make things right with the Lord; he continued to blame Abel for his own shortcomings. I’m sure that Cain would have never dreamed he would murder his own brother, but that is exactly what happened.

Are you following God’s road map for your life? Is the Lord leading you into an area of service that you simply are resisting to follow? Have you followed the voices of others who say, “It’s okay. You can serve God right here. You don’t need to go anywhere else to serve Him.”? Maybe you have told God how you would serve Him instead of listening to Him guide you where He wants you to be.

Where ever you may be in your walk with the Lord, take a look around. Over the years we have seen many fall by the wayside because they simply refused to move when God told them to. My reminder this week was from a man who had pastored for 30 years in the same church; it had been his only pastorate. Six years ago he revealed to us that the Lord was opening a door for him to move to another church away from his hometown. His very words were, “I just can’t do it; I can’t move. God is just going to have to use me here. I can’t leave this area. I don’t want to lose my family.” It was a slow process with many wrong turns to the final result, but now, he’s lost all that he had -- a sad ending to a man of God that could have been prevented with just one right turn.

Sin will take you farther, than you want to go,
Slowly, but wholly, taking control,
Sin will leave you longer, than you want to stay,
Sin will cost you far more, than you want to pay.

- The Cathedrals, “Sin Will Take You Farther”