Delayed Obedience, the Cost

Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. (Deuteronomy 1: 21, 22)

I want us to look at something we are wont to do so many times in our Christian lives, something we think is fine with God and especially beneficial to our lives.

Or it is only me who has that cautious response to God’s orders?

Is it only me who wants to first dip my foot into the water to know how cold or deep it is before diving in as per the commandment?

I am normally called radical in my responses to God’s orders and so know that I am many times more responsive to those orders than others yet I know that I am rarely quick to respond.

But let me get us to the message.

Do you know that Israel lost more than time when they decided to gauge the depth of the water before taking the plunge God had ordered.

Forty years was probably the least of the cost they paid for that delay.

Probably the greatest cost was in the loss of a whole generation, yet even that was not as monumental.

Do you realise that the book of Deuteronomy was written as a response to that delay? Do you also realise that the bulk of the book of Numbers was the product of that delay as was the book of Judges? Can you imagine the amount of drama that could have been avoided had Israel just plunged in as commanded?

What am I saying?

The dynamic of delay brings about much unwanted baggage to the persons involved. But it goes farther to affect many others who are in no way connected to that order.

The drama we see in the book of Numbers could never have occurred had Israel not delayed, whatever excuse they had used.

But it goes beyond that.

The consequences of that delay become devastating to more than the guilty parties.

That delay costed Moses the ticket to cross over. It costed whole families, like the families of the ones who were swallowed by the ground. And do not tell me that the fiery serpents bit only the rebellious. Or that only the guilty perished in the plague brought about by the superabundance of meat. Or the Baal Peor debacle.

Even brothers paid dearly for that delay.

Moab and Midian were condemned due to that delay.

Balaam the prophet morphed into a soothsayer as a result of that delay.

Delay in obedience is therefore not just any delay. It is actually akin to rebellion, probably worse than it because it feigns obedience.

It deceives itself that it is cautious because it is pursuing obedience.

But the truth is that it wants the obedience to suit them instead of the issuer of the order.

It is the clearest we see the reality of walking by sight as opposed to walking by faith that the ‘blind’ plunge indicates.

Yet that plunge can never be blind because it indicates faith in the person issuing the order or command.

Delayed obedience is disobedience because it wants to obey on our terms. It transfers God’s order to our order. It translates the order to fit our convenience.

And it does that by seeking to align all the beacons before setting off.

But what is faith?

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true. (Hebrews 11:1 BBE)

I hope you are getting my drift.

Wanting to have the complete map before setting out on the journey God orders actually means that it is not God you are following. Because, why trust God when you have all things set up?

How can it be faith if I have all the requirements for the journey before starting it? How can it be obedience if the budget for obeying that order is fully supplied? How can it be faith if the task I am taking is fully insured?

Faith is trust; trust in God’s nature.

A child demonstrates faith clearest. Let me give a simple illustration.

A teacher orders a child to come with the parent to school.

The parent tells them to go back to school as he will soon be on his way.

The child does not question whether, when or how sure they are that the parent will come.

They just go. And no harassment from the teacher will be able to make the child doubt the parent’s word.

‘My father said he is coming so he is coming’, is his response whatever doubt is thrown his way.

But delayed obedience plays by different rules because it starts with doubt. It looks for a confirmation before launching into the command. It seeks assurance that the command is worth obeying.

That is what I want us to understand today.

Seek to know God through His word.

Then seek to establish the validity of the command.

Then dive, whether it is to a shallow well or a vast ocean.

Avoid looking for dipsticks to establish the depth of the waterbody you have been ordered to dive into.

The One who has issued the order knows how He will take care of the shallowness or otherwise of that basin.

It is like the military are supposed to be with their commanding officers.

When you are told to march, it is the command to halt that should make you stop, even if you are marching to a solid wall.

Or you have not seen how they fall on parades, especially in those passing out parades. They simply fall like a log because the order for attention has not been cancelled.

Yet we think it is caution when we treat the Lord of lords with less seriousness than that parade commander!

What am I saying?

We really have no option when we have received a command from Christ. It is not a suggestion.

Seeking to establish the logistics and provisions before launching out will cost you big.

The story of Israel could have been very different had they done as Caleb was saying.

Imagine crossing over with God speaking as He had been with Moses! Imagine the people who had witnessed the rescue from Egypt all crossing over! Imagine crossing over with no brother enemies like Edom, Moab and Midian!

The Gibeonites could not have played that ruse to Moses because Moses would always seek God’s take even on very obvious matters.

It is impossible to imagine Israel under Moses fearing to completely destroy the Canaanites for this or the other reason.

I am sure the story of redemption could have unfolded much earlier had Israel taken the plunge without delay.

Judges happened because all the elders died.

That means that the history of God’s dealings prior to Exodus died with them.

The elders remaining were children when the drama occurred, meaning that their memories were hazy for the most part. Their instruction was therefore more of folklore than witness history.

And that happens when we delay obedience all the time, only that it doesn’t always appear that bad, especially immediately.

Think of the times you delayed obedience; when you delayed sharing the Gospel with a neighbour or colleague, when you delayed going for that mission, when you delayed confronting that friend, when you delayed affirming a child, when you delayed calling or visiting someone.

I pray that we may seek God to see some of the consequences of those delays. I know some are evident almost immediately like when delaying the push to share the Gospel to someone then they have an accident shortly after.

Think beyond guilt to the consequences of that delay. Think of the cost of that delay.

Like I have always said, Manasseh could have been avoided had Hezekiah taken the plunge instead of delaying it through his tearful pleas.

Is God telling you something? Is God ordering you to do something, to say something, to run away or avoid something?

Then do not wait. Do it immediately the order becomes clear.

The cost of delay cuts across everything, disastrously.

Will you take the plunge when God commands?

Or must you still do that survey?