HOW LONG? MOVE ON!

HOW LONG? MOVE ON!

SCENE 1:

The Israelites regarded themselves as the People of Jehovah.

They knew of His great works, heard all He did when their forefathers left Egypt, and were told of the wonders He performed in the Wilderness, raining Manna from Heaven, sending quails to them in droves, and bringing water from the rock for them to drink.

They knew these things.

But they still flirted dangerously with the Idol, Baal.

It reached a point where Prophet Elijah had enough. He gathered the Israelites on Mount Carmel for a contest between Jehovah and Baal.

He asked a very interesting question: HOW LONG WILL YOU WAVER BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS?  If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him!” (1^st Kings 18:21). You cannot waste time in the Valley of Decision; you cannot waste time being indecisive! Make up your mind and go with your convictions!

 

SCENE 2:

King Saul disobeyed God’s instructions. God had asked him to destroy all of the Amalekites, but he spared the king and the best sheep, goats and cattle. God then sent Prophet Samuel to rebuke King Saul and to tell him the Kingdom is taken from him and given to someone else.

“Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. And to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.” - (1^st Samuel 15:34-35).

The next chapter starts with the same interesting question as Scene 1 above: Now the LORD said to Samuel, “HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO MOURN for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?” - (1^st Samuel 16:1). But in this case, God did not stop at the question: He told Samuel the next thing to do!

“Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself!”

As far as God was concerned, Plan A has ended: let’s activate Plan B!

 

SCENE 3:

“Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, as the LORD had said. And God buried him in a valley in the land of Moab facing Beth-peor, and no one to this day knows the location of his grave. The Israelites mourned for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.” -(Deuteronomy 34;5-6,8).

It is instructive to note that while the Israelites were MOURNING, God was SILENT. The next time God would speak, He said, “Moses, My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, you and all these people, and cross over the Jordan into the land that I am giving to the children of Israel.” -Joshua 1:2.

God acknowledged Moses was dead. But He asked Joshua to MOVE ON!

 

One of humanity's greatest challenges is emotion. We emote too much! The tragedy is that we waste too much time emoting on issues, especially tragedies and disasters. We lose someone, and we spend the next two years wearing black, mourning. It is expected we mourn, we say. So we are held bound by culture (not scripture).

You go through a divorce, or you lose your spouse. What next? How do you handle it? I know people who went through such and decided to stay single for the rest of their lives. WHY? Why don’t you MOVE ON and find love again?

“My servant is dead”, God told Joshua. Life MUST continue! “Now, therefore… ARISE!” You don’t stay there. You don’t build tabernacles there. You don’t set up a monument there. MOVE ON! How long will you stay there?

A friend went through a divorce. In three months, he started dating again, and in another year, he remarried.

Another lost his wife. 3 years later, he is still single, still mourning his late wife.

Another lost her husband. She told me, “Harry, I just can't imagine myself with another man!” I just smiled. Emotions!

I asked her, “What do you think God would have you do? Stay single or remarry and move on? Paul wrote, “I advise younger widows to marry again” (1 Timothy 5:14), Sis . Why not take his counsel?”

When we face any challenge or experience any tragedy, it is NOT God’s will or plan for us to set up camp there, weep, wail and gnash our teeth, like the Israelites in Babylon (By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion -Psalm 137:1).

His plan is for us to MOVE ON!

When life throws you lemons, make lemonade from it: MAKE THE BEST OF ANY SITUATION YOU FIND YOURSELF!

 

How long will you remain where you are?

How long will you remain in the Valley of Decision?

How long will you mourn your loss?

IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON!

 

Shalom

Haruna Daniels.