September 15, 2014
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

The Way Ahead

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Opening Prayer

Father, You are my hope and joy. Give me a vision of Your truth and an assurance of Your love.

Read Exodus 23:20-33

[20] “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. [21] Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. [22] If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. [23] My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. [24] Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. [25] Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, [26] and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. [27] “I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. [28] I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. [29] But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. [30] Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. [31] “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. [32] Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. [33] Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

At the crossroads of life make sure that you look to the Lord as well as at the various options. God still can say to you, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isa. 30:21).

If only they had listened and believed. This extraordinary passage details the Lord’s strategy for the next stage and is filled with promise of ultimate success. God is not sending them ahead on their own. He will lead the way through his angel–but they must follow. Into each sentence of hope there is a reciprocal requirement to trust and obey. Sadly, when the moment came, the nerve of Israel failed. They preferred to trust the evidence of their own eyes rather than the promises of God. They saw the size of their enemy and forgot the greatness of God. Their mistake has been replicated down through the generations. We can sing God’s promises to one another and preach them boldly, even memorize them, but when it comes to trusting him, our nerve fails and we falter.

The Lord promises a safe passage to the land and then a steady conquest of its inhabitants. However, the people take their eyes off the Lord. They prefer to spread their risk, by having trust both in the Lord and in the local deities. In fact they compromise their allegiance and the vision becomes dulled. They lose heart when the battles are prolonged, and end up with fatal compromises. So they sow the seed of their own ultimate ejection from the land.

For the church, the risen Lord has promised to go ahead, but we hold back. He has promised us victory over the powers and authorities, but we try and play it both ways. We want instant success and are not prepared for the long haul. And so, in the end, we settle for mediocrity, when the Lord wants us to be a clear testimony to his power and might. Like the Israelites, we too often end up snared in a trap that we walked into with our eyes wide open.

Apply

“You cannot paddle a canoe with one foot on the bank” (Zambian proverb). Are you facing any crossroads at this time? Do you have “one foot on the bank” that is keeping you from moving forward? Claim the promise of Isaiah 30:21.

Closing prayer

Lord, forgive me for times of disobedience. I know I have resisted Your clear guidance. Show me the way, and give me strength to put both feet in the canoe and paddle vigorously.

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