The other night I watched a film clip, on the news, of a police chase. From a helicopter perspective and night vision you could see the outline of the vehicles, the swerving in and out of traffic, him stopping the car in someone's front yard, getting out and running. And there they are, the police, chasing him on foot, catching him, holding him face down on the ground while they bound him up.
So I look at my wife and ask "Where did that guy think he was going to go?" Did he actually think he would get away?
What is in a person that makes him think he can do something wrong, in the sense of something deliberately wrong - against what is right, and not suffer consequences? This man wasn't thinking at all in the first place, and when he did start to, because of his circumstances, he ran to escape the consequences he realized were headed his way. Too late. He lacked a certain order of things and a certain framework for evaluating, beneficial to himself. And he lacked the discipline to behave according to that order and framework. Think first, evaluate according to instructions for right actions. Get these from a reliable source. Stick to where that leads. I think we all have something in common with this fella. We make decisions in the moment or we don't make decisions at all. And as long as things seem to remain tolerable we leave it at that. It's a form of running away. It can take place in all aspects of life but in the area of relationships I think it's easy to fall into.
Relationships gone sour, can remain that way and get worse because there is no thought, by choice, to acknowledge there is an issue, consider the options for correcting and then do them.
Instead, ignore it and maybe it will go away, maybe, as long as things are tolerable, leave it alone. No thought forward to the consequences. Fanciful thinking that "I can outrun that policeman".
In the process every action taken to escape make the problem harder to fix, makes the consequences more severe.
So we - some of us - aren't far from that thief in thinking we can allow a wrong to continue, run from addressing it, and escape the consequences. And maybe, like the thief, once we realize, we run even harder and now it can become an irrational thoughtless flight.
Our Father is Truth and Life. He has given us instructions for right thinking and conduct that we can guide our decision making and actions by. And they will, if we will follow them, work to good.
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 CJB
Father Your Word is perfectly applicable and just the right instruction for ordering our lives and it is powerful and able to correct faults & train in right living.
We do believe and trust; help please our lack of trust.
We belong to You.
May Your Spirit within us remind us of that. May that remembrance renew, strengthen and embolden us.
Stand with us that we may be confronters and no "flee'ers".
Stand with us so that we may be brave Father and not fearful.
Make us feel Your love Father, help us to love You honestly and truly and urgently in return. We need You Lord, Abba.
In Yeshua's name we pray.
Amen.
May God's love be in us all.
Elder.