Crooked Rows

Crooked Rows

1 Kings 19:19  So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him.

There is an old phrase which goes all the way back to when animals were used to plow the land for crops. The phrase goes something like this, “If you keep looking back then your rows will always be crooked.” The encouragement is to focus upon where you are going and not where you have been. As you get older you recognize there is a lot more of life in the rear view mirror than what lies in front of you. If you are not careful you begin to make crooked rows with the time you have left. Sometimes this backward reflection leads us into the “shoulda, woulda, couldas” and a perspective of regret and disappointment. We reflect upon the missed opportunities, wrong choices and long list of failures. Sometimes this review of the past promotes a longing for the good old glory days of the past. I saw a tee shirt once which proclaimed “The older I get, the better I was.” We long to return to the days of our youth when our bodies and minds were strong and sharp. Whatever the reason for this backward reflection, the more crooked our rows become because we lose sight of where we are going.

Elijah could have very easily spent his latter years reflecting upon his past exploits. He could have set around the fire and told stories about his great victory against the prophets of Baal. He could have struggled with regret concerning his cowardly response to Jezebel’s threat. There was a time that his past regrets were so great that he wanted God to take him out. When he left the cave, where the Lord spoke to him, he was reassigned. He no longer was a lead, in your face, bold prophet of  God but he became a mentor and teacher to Elisha. He submitted to the role God had given him and his row remained straight until he was taken to heaven. You may be in a transition time in your life and realize you are not getting any younger. While Elijah was in the cave he had to be very still in order to hear the whisper of God’s voice. Sometimes our past screams so loudly we can’t hear the still small voice of the Great I Am. Maybe it’s time to be still, surrender all the past good and bad events over to God and hear what his calling is for your remaining years. Elijah finished well, went to heaven in a chariot and the next time we see him he is hanging out with Jesus on the mountain top. That never would have happened if he kept looking back.

Jonathan Jones, President and Founder of Perfect Hope Ministry

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