Mark spoke this morning from Jeremiah 6:16 on the ‘Dream Cross Code.’ Most of us remember the ‘Green Cross Code’ from our childhoods:
This taught us basic road safety:
1) Find a safe place to cross the road.
2) Stop just before you get to the kerb.
3) Look all around for traffic and listen. Look right, look left, look right again.
4) If traffic is coming, let it pass.
5) When it is safe, go straight across the road – looking and listening all the time.
Jeremiah 6:16 tells us, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” This is the ‘Dream Cross Code’ we are to follow to find God’s plan for our lives when we are at a crossroads:
When we are at a crossroads, there are a number of options facing us. We can carry on regardless, choosing the obvious option first. Or we can take a wild guess and go in whatever direction seems best! We can listen to the Sat-Nav (or Sat-Nag, as Mark termed it!), which does not always result in success.
In life, we can carry on with our lives, or we can try the ‘pot luck’ method of spiritual direction, deciding what to do on whims or fancies. Sometimes we ask for directions from everyone but God. Sometimes we panic when faced with new directions and want to go back the way we have come, because that represents safety to us. What we should do when we are faced with crossroads is:
1) Stop
2) Look
3) Listen
4) Go
2 Chron 20:12-18 shows us what Israel did when facing a great enemy. They did not know what to do, but were told to ‘stand before the Lord’. Then God spoke to them through a prophet, telling them “the battle is not yours but God’s. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you.”
In the same way, when facing the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptians behind them, Moses was commanded to ‘stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you.’ (see Ex 14:13-14) God is the one who is able to save and deliver us. Sometimes we have to let God do the saving and be aware that He fights for us.
God is able to make a way for us where there is no way. 1 Cor 16:9 says that Paul discovered ‘a great door for effective work has opened to me.’ 2 Cor 2:12 tell us that he found ‘that the Lord had opened a door for me.’ When we are at a crossroads and we actually take the time to stop, look and listen, God speaks and we are then left with the choice to go or to refuse. In Jeremiah, the people did not heed God’s word, but in 2 Chron 20, the people’s obedience resulted in a great victory. When we actually follow the ‘Dream Cross Code’, we will find rest for our souls.