The Crossroads
Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it. - Jeremiah 6:16
Today I can draw your attention to Jeremiah 6:16. I want to talk to you today about what to do when you're at a crossroads. All of us will face in life critical decisions must be made, times when different roads intersect. We need to figure out which way to go and what to do making the right decision when you're at a crossroads. Then you can find rest for your souls. This verse speaks about, on the other hand, making wrong decisions when you're at a crossroads in life, we can have either short-term or long-term ramifications depending on the seriousness of the matter at hand. So it's important that we make decisions wisely and seek the wisdom of the Lord, when we're at a crossroads in our life.
Now before we deal with a practical sense from Jeremiah 6:16, I first want to give us the historical background. We have the context and the perspective of what Jeremiah is writing about here. The people of Judah are at a crossroads. They're at a critical point of decision the result of which will have far-reaching implications. The choice before them is whether they turned from their idolatry and rebellion against God or whether they stay the course and suffer the consequences for it. God lays out some wisdom for them here in Jeremiah 6:16. Urging them to make the right decision, giving them counsel from above and telling them that if they would make the right decision and choose the right path they will have rest for their souls. But unfortunately the last part of verse 16 says that the people said in response we're not going to walk in it. They refused to walk in the wisdom and counsel of God that they might have rest for their souls.
Furthermore verse 17 says, I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ In other words God is referring to the prophets as Watchmen. God sent prophets to warn the people but again verse 17b says but they said “we will not listen.” Understand not only does God give them wisdom for how to choose the right path, he gives them warnings in advance about what's going to happen if you don't choose the right path. So they didn't receive the wisdom of God. They didn't heed the warning of God and as a result they brought disaster upon themselves. Again, look at verse 18 & 19 says, Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people—The fruit of their thoughts, Because they have not heeded My words Nor My law, but rejected it”. We jump further down to verse 22& 23. This is what the Lord says: Behold, a people comes from the north country, and a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.” They are armed with a bow and spear. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men and battle formation to attack you. O daughter of Zion.
The nation that God is going to use is Babylonia to bring discipline to the people whom he loves. In 586 BC they subdued the capital city of Jerusalem and the people of Judah. All because they rejected the wisdom of God and the warnings of God. That's the historical background.
Now let’s go back to verse 16 and look at it from a practical standpoint. The broader question is this: what do you do when you are at a crossroads in your life? All of us will from time to time be standing at a crossroads of life, having to make some critical decisions that can impact life in big and small ways. Sometimes the choice will be clear and obvious and other times the choice will not be clearly obvious. But verse 16 gives us some practical wisdom from God to help us to make right decisions, when we find ourselves at a crossroads. So that we can find rest for our souls. How many of you could use a little more rest for your souls? Let me just see your hands. I mean all of us could say that because we live in a very high-stress, high paced area of the world.
One of the things that infringes most regarding rest for our souls is when we're making unwise decisions. It's when we come to a crossroads and we're not making a decision with the wisdom from above, later we will regret it and so I think it's good for us to look at verse 16 from the practical standpoint. How can we glean some wisdom from above when we are standing at a crossroads in our life. We might have God's wisdom and find rest for our souls. Look at verse 16 again on the screen for you. I'm gonna highlight different things in this verse. How to find wisdom during the different crossroads of our lives. This is what the Lord says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it. Jeremiah 6:16 (NIV). There are four directions that God gives us here in verse 16. Basically, four verbs that we see in this verse.
I. STAND: Stand at the crossroads
The first one I want to highlight is the word stand. The First thing we need to do is stand at the crossroads. God's directive is to stand at the crossroads. Please note standing is not running, standing is not walking, standing it's not sitting, standing is being still, and it's holding your position right where you are. The Hebrew word for stand is .amad. Amad means to abide, to endure or to remain. It has a certain steadfastness of being immovable. It has the idea of being unhurried and tied together. This word itself is a warning to us about not rushing into something. Just stand there, stand still when you don't know what to do, stay right where you are. There's never a sense when you read the Bible that Jesus is ever hurried or in a rush. He is measured, he is disciplined, he is deliberate, we need to learn that for ourselves, we need to learn to be still. Sometimes we need to slow it down and not make any rash decisions.
There are a few examples in the Bible. Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” - Genesis 15:5. So just wait because one day you and your wife Sarah are going to have a baby. But they were in a hurry and wanted to help God. The very next chapter verse 2 tells us “Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.” Now Abraham at the time is about 90. He said okay, sounds like a good idea to me. Abraham messed up God's plan. God's plan was that you and Sarah, your wife, would have a child. But they rush into it and Ishmael is born and that's what today we call the Middle East conflict. Abram tried to help God. I'm gonna help God, don't ever try to help God. God doesn't need our help.
Look at a similar thing with Moses. You know Moses is raised up in the court of Pharaoh palace. Having been saved from the Nile river by pharaoh's daughter. He is a child of privilege, but he knows he's a Hebrew. He knows he's a Jew, and he sees his fellow Hebrews being mistreated as slaves in Egypt and so he decides I'm gonna try to help my fellow Hebrew people by killing an Egyptian. (Exodus 2:12) He was thinking that nobody can see. (By the way God sees everything right?). He buries the Egyptian in sand. The wind blows so the Egyptian hand sticks up out of the ground. Moses ran away towards the wilderness. Now he lived 40 more years in the wilderness. He lived his life in the wilderness of Midian. Again God called him as a deliverer for the Hebrew people. He prematurely thought that if I killed one Egyptian at a time I'd eventually kill them all. What was his thinking? We have to wait on God's timing but he took matters into his own hands and tried to help God. And it was another mess until 40 years later God had matured him. God had prepared him and then God could use him.
The Thessalonians church people thought, well God is going to come soon. So you might quit our jobs and not work and Paul has to come along and say hey listen, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10. We want to wait for the return of Christ but we can't take matters into our own hands and try to help God. God just wants us to stand still, just stand, don't run, don't walk. Stand is the first directive here. Be still standing if you want to get wisdom from above. God will not put you down. God wants you to stand there and be still in his presence.
In Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” In Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God” Standing still is not an action. Sometimes we think if I'm not doing something, I'm not making progress, standing still is not an action. Standing still is a plan of action because you're waiting on the Lord for the next step. Don't be afraid, just stand still and wait. We need to learn the art and the discipline of standing still and just waiting on the Lord. In Isaiah 64:4 “since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God beside you who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” But see, we have a hard time waiting and standing still because our culture is kind of conditioning us that everything is supposed to happen at rapid fire. This generation has not learned what it means to wait. This generation knows how to wait in life, and don't know how to wait on God. We don't want to stand still but often God will speak to us if we stand still long enough for us to hear him.
II. LOOK: Stand at the crossroads and look
Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it. Jeremiah 6:16 (NIV)
The Hebrew word for look literally means consider. Sometimes we're so eager to see what God will do that we don't stop to consider what he is doing. There we missed God's direction. Look around you; look around you in your life. Notice what God is doing in your presence. Don't always be thinking forward because God speaks everyday in simple ways. We want to see God works in Supernatural ways. God is a supernatural God; but sometimes we discount the ways that he works in nature and we think that can't be direction for us. God is doing what he does in nature and sees what he's doing in the present.
There's a story in Acts chapter 16:6. It talks about how Paul and his companions were traveling through the region of Phrygia and Galatia. It says there in Acts 16:6 that the Holy Spirit kept us from moving on into the rest of Asia Minor. Now we don't know why? It just says that the Holy Spirit prevented us from moving on into the rest of Asia Minor. Why would the Holy Spirit prevent them? Their purpose was that they wanted to share the gospel. Why would the Holy Spirit say NO you're not going to move any further. It seems a mystery to us until you read Paul's letter to the Galatians. In Galatians 4:13 he says, “As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you”. Interesting! In Paul's missionary journey through Phrygia and Galatia Paul thought that Galatia was just a stop on the way to better things in Asia Minor but Galatia was not a pit stop with God. God actually used an illness in the life of Paul to sideline him in Galatia so that the people of Galatia could hear the gospel. God uses very practical everyday things to direct our steps.
III. ASK: Ask for the Ancient Paths:
Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it.
Number three is ASK but, the word ask appears twice in this verse: ask for the ancient paths and ask where the good way is and walk in it. Now the ancient paths and the good way referenced here in this verse refer to the Torah meaning the law of God. God is saying, you need to seek me and inquire of me through my Word. The reliable timeless truth of Scripture is always a dependable source of guidance and wisdom and inspiration. We must be people who are reading our Bibles and searching the scriptures to find everyday practical wisdom and advice from above. When you are at a crossroads do not rely on your feelings, do not trust your emotions and never have to make a decision when you're down or angry. People will live to regret those kinds of decisions when you're at a crossroads. Again, never rely on your feelings, never trust your emotions and never make a decision when you're down or angry. Turn to the Bible instead as a reliable never failing source of truth and guidance. Ask God, that's what he's saying here, ask for the ancient paths, ask for the reliable truth that has been tested by time and survived over the generations. God's Word is true and God's Word will speak to you either in direct ways or indirect ways. I tell people all the time you need wisdom. The Bible is good wisdom but look particularly at the wisdom literature. Read proverbs. Look at proverbs, just meditate on proverbs and get guidance from God through the wisdom of Proverbs. Read it. devour it, study it, and meditate on it. God will speak to you through His word directly.
There are also some situations in life where God's Word will speak to you in indirect ways. God speaks uniquely to people through his words. In the Book of Jeremiah 9:1. Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night, for the slain of the daughter of my people!” That was his prayer and he came to this verse and God spoke to him very clearly and uniquely through a passage like that and God can do that. We have to be good students of God's Word because the ancient paths are not out of date. The Word of God is counsel from God, the wisdom of heaven that has given unto us for our wisdom and for our benefits. When we are at a crossroads in life and we feel stuck and confused because we've reached a point basically where our rational mind can no longer give us direction or answers. We need to turn to the one who can and we need to consult the Word of God and ask for the ancient paths. Jesus said in Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
The last direction here in our text is the Word “Walk.” Ask where the good way is and walk in it. It's not enough to simply ask God for wisdom, we have to walk in it. We have to do what it says, in order to benefit from it. This is about obedience, this is hearing what God says and doing what God says. It's like if a doctor gives you a prescription and you read the label and you read all the literature that comes with the medication but you never take it. It won't do any good. This is why James says in James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only deceiving yourselves.” In Proverbs 28:26 it says “he who trusts in himself is a fool but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.”
After all this stand, look, ask, walk. God says if you do all this then you will find rest for your Souls. The Bible scholars believe that Jesus quotes this last part of Jeremiah 6:16 about finding rest for your souls when he says in Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Basically He says life is a whole lot easier walking with Jesus than walking alone. It's not a burden. It's not weary, when we walk with Jesus, obey Jesus, follow Jesus. Then you shall have rest for our souls and when you come to a crossroads. May Jesus help us to always discern from above the crossroads of life. Amen.
