The entire disbelieving generation would die in the wilderness; never to see the Promised Land. We must stop at the crossroads and the second thing is we must look around. I think this is a crucial point that we need to consider. Far too often we make our own decisions before we even get to the crossroads and then seek "the will of God" or "confirmation." It doesn't work that way. The Bible says our hearts are wickedly deceitful above all things. Once we have "made up our mind" we will see confirmations everywhere! I once knew a couple that decided to move to another state and in their seeking confirmations suddenly noticed all these license plates on the highway from that state and took it as confirmation! God does not work that way! We have to stop and look around. We have to assess the situation. We have to assess the crossroads beloved. We have to consider the various options that stand before us. We tend to yield in this life as opposed to coming to a full stop. We tend to pay lip service to other options in favor of what we think we want. But the truth we need to embrace today is that there is only one person that knows what would happen down each and every road we might take and that is God. This leads us to the next point from the key verses.
Ask for the old Godly way and walk in it. Who do we ask? We ask God of course! This is emphasizing the absolute necessity for prayer beloved. Every major decision should be bathed in prayer. True prayerful consideration should lead to a revelation of the will of God. Judah did not consider the will of God and continued down the wrong path until God had to step in and do what was right in His eyes. Remember, eventually God will become more drastic in His attempts to get our attention. What I find interesting here is God didn't just say to ask for the Godly way but rather, the old Godly way. I think sometimes we become enamored with the latest and newest thing. We see this playing out in the modern church with the heretical theories of church growth. The old ways of God have never failed beloved. The Gospel has never failed. It does not need to be made more relevant. It does not need to be dressed up. It does not need to become hip to culture. It is completely sufficient all on its own. Take the old Godly ways and the key verses say that we will find rest for our souls.
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. -- Philippians 4: 6-7 (NLT)
These popular verses show the oppositional relationship between prayer and worry. The crossroads can be very intimidating as the major life decisions stand before us. God is saying to counteract that intimidation we need the transcendent peace of God and the only way to have that is to submit everything that might worry us into prayer. As we lean not to our understanding but instead acknowledge the Lord; He will make our paths clear before us. Let's face it beloved -- the crossroads is scary because we don't want to make the wrong decisions.
There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. -- Proverbs 14: 12 (NKJV)
The way we have chosen seems right to us. We have used our carnal rationales. We have used our worldly analysis. But without Godly insight we are driving our lives blindly off a cliff hoping the landing is soft. Stop at the crossroads. Look around and consider the options. Prayerfully submit the decision to God. And then"
Resist the flesh. That is what the key verses teach us next. Judah was warned to get back on the narrow road and they screamed -- no that's not the road we want! I remember a few years ago I was faced with the most difficult decision of my walk and I screamed several times that it was not the road I wanted. It was a lonelier road. It was a road marked with uncertainty and struggles. To be honest I am still walking that road but I have been assured over and over by God that it is the right road and in the end that is all that will matter. We need to be more honest with ourselves. In our flesh our hearts desires run contrary to God. We like to dress ourselves up and play church but we are not super-spiritual. Not in our flesh.
And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. -- Galatians 5: 24-25 (NKJV)
