When I was a little girl, we had a huge, wooden record player in our living room. I would run home after school to listen to my favorite group, Diana Ross and the Supremes. I used my hairbrush for a microphone and a towel to imitate Diana Ross’ hair because I was always Diana Ross (my cousin does not let me forget that I did not share). I would sing and dance as the record played: until there was a scratch in the record. You see vinyl records had to be handled carefully. You gently removed it from its album cover while minimizing fingerprints. You examined both sides to see if you noticed any obvious damage. Although it had been protected by a sleeve, you still blew on it to remove any dust. Everything was great unless you had a scratched record.
A record would scratch from being mishandled or overly used. Once it was scratched, the record would play but it would be stuck in that same spot every time. It would keep playing the same line in the song repeatedly until you moved the needle forward. Sometimes in life, you may feel that you have been mishandled or overly used. People (and life’s circumstances) have not treated you with the utmost care. It can feel like you are on repeat. You keep getting to the same spot and feel stuck: the same arguments, frustrations, needs, hurt feelings, disrespect, etc. The Bible teaches us that the children of Israel were no different.
After leaving slavery in Egypt, the Israelites were stuck for 40 years in the wilderness. They were not supposed to travel for 40 years but their lack of faith and disobedience put a scratch in their destiny. Despite the fact that God had delivered them with a mighty hand from Egypt, every inconvenience in the wilderness became a reason to whine and complain against God. No water, they murmured (Exodus 15:23-24). No food, they wanted to return to Egypt (Exodus 16:3). No water again, they chided (Exodus 17:2-3). They had become so accustomed to complaining that when God was ready to fulfill His promise to give them the land of Canaan, they wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb for encouraging them to trust God.
But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” And all the congregation said to stone them with stones...(Numbers 14:6-10)
Their scratched record of unbelief caused that generation to die off in the wilderness, never experiencing the promise of God.
For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord…” (Joshua 5:6)
There are times in our lives when we are repeatedly confronted with the same issue. It may go on for months or even years. Are you still responding the same way that you did when you first began to encounter the problem? Does rejection still cause you to shut down and be unloving towards others? Does having a need still provoke you to violate the principles of God to make sure you have enough? Do people gossiping about you still make you angry? Do not allow the mistreatment from others to keep you from trusting God. We will never spiritually mature if we stay stuck in our reactions, feelings, and attitudes. The only way to move forward from our scratched records is to obey the voice of God. We must submit to the principles in His Word by consistently applying them to our lives.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4-NIV).
For more on obedience, read The Appointment.
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Copyright 2020 T.L. Lockley. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
