Autopilot Christianity

SCRIPTURE

1Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”4When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses! And Moses said, “Here I am.” Exodus 3:1-3

OBSERVATION

Want to get closer to the Lord? Take a closer look. I never noticed this before, but God didn’t call out to Moses to get his attention. He waited to see if he would come over and investigate this strange occurrence of a bush that wouldn’t burn up. Only when the Lord saw that he was coming over did God call him by name. He was using the burning bush to get Moses off of autopilot (find the sheep, care for the sheep, I’m a shepherd) and into his anointing. The Hebrew phrase used here means “to turn aside” or to depart from the path and turn off the direction you were headed on. It meant Moses had to withdraw from his plan to draw near to God’s plan. It’s not a casual option. It’s a specific choice to depart from the plan ahead. For Moses, it meant letting the stray sheep he was chasing continue to stray. To take a closer look meant an abandoning of his current assignment. It was the first of many tests to see if he would trust the Great “I Am” over what he could control or predict about his future. It was a redirecting that Moses never saw coming. Before Moses received his mission he had to get a new vision. Jesus teaches this relentless pursuit in Matthew 7:7- “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” James 4:8 teaches that intimacy with the Lord can’t happen without first taking action towards the Lord- “Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty, is divided between God and the world.” Anyone looking at the life of Moses as a Shepherd with wife and kids would immediately think that he was doing exactly what he was supposed to and that life was good. If you took a closer look you would see he was a man running from his past and hiding from his pain. Everything changes when we take a closer look at our Lord and let the Lord take a closer look at us!

APPLICATION

Like Moses, I can get so caught up in what I’m doing that it takes a burning bush to get my attention. It should be enough that Jesus calls me by name daily to come and be with Him and hear His heart and read His Word. Yet, I often find myself more dedicated to the cause of working for Jesus than actually being with Jesus. If you were to look at my life at any given time over the past 20 years of ministry it would appear that I was doing just fine. If you took a closer look you might see a man in certain seasons, who like Moses, was hiding from his true calling in the name of being productive and responsible. There have been seasons when instead of walking in the Lord’s anointing I’ve been running on autopilot. This happens every time I trade intimacy for expediency. It reminds me of this story I came across recently, “On October 25, 1999, a twin-engine Learjet taxied down the runway in Orlando on its way to Dallas, Texas. Over Gainesville, Florida the plane should have made a left turn and headed toward Texas. But it veered off course toward South Dakota. Repeated attempts to contact the pilots were met with a deafening silence. Five fighter planes were dispatched to go up and make visual contact with the runaway jet. Two F-16’s finally were able to pull within fifty feet of the Learjet. The pilots reported they were unable to see inside because its windows were iced over. The plane flew on autopilot for fourteen hundred miles, over four hours, and finally crashed into a grassy field at six hundred miles an hour. All six passengers were killed—the most famous being professional golfer Payne Stewart. It was a bizarre and tragic event. Suppose for a moment you had been standing on the ground as the plane flew overhead in the clear autumn sky. It’s traveling fast and straight, and as far you know it’s on course. The reality, though, is that something was desperately wrong on the inside, and it was headed for disaster. Many pastors and ministry leaders soar through life at breakneck speed. They give every outward appearance of being on course, cruising on autopilot. To the onlooker, it seems they have it all together, but on the inside, there is a crisis brewing. In spite of appearances, they are on a collision course with disaster.” I don’t want to live life on autopilot. I don’t want to be another statistic of pastors burning out in the Name of the Lord. I don’t want to wait for a burning bush to take a closer look at the Lord. These Daily Examen Questions will keep me off of autopilot and open to God’s new assignment:

Where Did I See God Today?

What Am I Thankful For Today?

What Did I Feel Today?

What Should I Pray For?

How Do I Feel About Tomorrow?

PRAYER

Lord, You alone are my sustenance, my inheritance, my deliverance, and my extravagant love. Why do choose to go elsewhere when you’re the only One with the Words of life. I can get so busy chasing sheep that I’m no longer chasing You. I can get so caught up in the “how-to” that I no longer seek You! Thank You for shaking me awake today! Thank You for not letting me crash on autopilot. Thank You for reminding me that the anointing flows when I seek Your first!