A printed slogan reads, “If you are headed in the wrong direction, God allows U turns.”
God not only allows U turns, He will help us turn around. Paul was on his way to Damascus and the Lord struck him down and turned him around. David was on his way to take vengeance on Nabal when Abigail suddenly appeared to turn David around. It took drastic measures to turn Jonah around.
Yet, some do not respond. Pharaoh persistently hardened his heart. The rulers in Christ’s day would not be “persuaded even though one rose from the dead.” Jehu was driving furiously and said “come see my zeal for the LORD.” Yet it is recorded of him, “but Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart.” He did not turn around.
Could we be like Jehu, so bent on doing what we want to do that we rationalize what we want to be right and so we drive furiously but take no heed to walk in the law of the Lord? Solomon told us, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.”
Is it possible to be going down a dark path for a secret rendezvous with sin, and we need to make a U turn? Is it possible to be going in one direction too far, in being so strict and demanding of others that we become Pharisaical in our eagerness to attack and cast away those with whom we disagree? If so, a U turn is needed. Is it possible to go too far in the tolerance direction so that we become lax in fellowship and blind to the need for separateness from those who hold different views on vital first principles? If so, a U turn is needed.
We need to examine ourselves to make sure that we are going in the right direction and we need to be wise enough, and humble enough to be willing to make a U turn, if, in fact, we are headed the wrong way.
How can we always know if we are going in the right direction? Here is a test we can give ourselves. What would Jesus do? Are we where we ought to be, associating with those we ought to be with, behaving as we ought to behave, saying what we ought to say, treating others as we would like to be treated?
If we can say yes to all the above, can we also then honestly say that what we are doing and saying is edifying the brotherhood, is it strengthening our ecclesia, is it encouraging our spiritual family? Is it making peace or causing strife?
Paul tells us, “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”
Is our path making peace? Do we have peace in our own heart, peace in our home, peace in our ecclesia, peace in our brotherhood? If not, perhaps we need to make a U turn. God will help us, if we acknowledge Him and allow Him to direct our path.
God turned Paul and Jonah around, but he let Jehu drive on furiously. God may not send a spectacular miracle to cause us to turn to Him, but He certainly wants us to make a U turn. “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD; wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”
Our cry should then be, “Turn us again, 0 LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One