I'm not going there

"I"m not going there."  My girlfriends and I use this phrase occasionally.  For some of us, we don't use it often enough.  We are a "crafty" group.  We each have many hobbies and interests that overlap.  When one finds a new project, she tries to recruit the others to join.  The phrase, "I'm not going there" means I am already overwhelmed with the bags of unfinished projects and I'm not going to add one more. 

This morning I read Deuteronomy 2: 13-16 in the New International Version.  I was struck by the words "completely eliminated."  Moses is at the point in his history lesson when it has been 38 years of journey and now all of the fighting men who had disobeyed the Lord were all gone.  They  had all died, been completely eliminated.

The fighting men who had eliminated so many during their careers had now been eliminated, totally and completely.  I checked an online Bible dictionary.  In this particular verse the Hebrew word means to be finished  or perfect.  So these men had not been perfect in their obedience to the Lord and now were completely gone.  They would not see the reward of their careers and they would not have influence over the people.

They had allowed their feeling of being overwhelmed to rule their actions rather than excitement and trust.  Sometimes we are like that.  We allow the details, problems and projects to influence our devotion to God.  We have bags and bags of things to do. God has one thing for us to do-follow Him.

This morning the puppies were determined to distract me.  I'll admit I almost put aside finishing my study time to complete my puppy raising duties.  I have a bag of a craft project I really wanted to finish today.  It's early in the morning to mind wrestle "completely eliminated" and consider what is the spiritual meaning for me.

Fortunately, I did use the phrase, "I'm not going there."  Those fighting men basically said that to God in response to His most important, "Go".  I need to remember that I get to say "I'm not going there" to the world, but not to God.

I managed the puppies enough so they are asleep on either side of me.  There is always tonight for my project- the deadline is only mine.

God spoke to me. Next time I am tempted to be overwhelmed by problems, details and projects, I'm not going there.  I really only have one thing to do- follow Him.