Cadences of God

As has been noticed by more than a few people, today is the 50th anniversary of the greatest marketing disaster in automotive history. Fifty years ago today, the Edsel was launched by Ford. It last three years, which by most accounts was three years too long. It was proclaimed before it’s arrival as the greatest innovation in the history of cars, but was nothing new. It’s only two innovations were it’s ungle grill and it’s push button transmission which caused people to flip into reverse when they went to honk their horns. It was a complete flop.

There are more than a few things we can learn from the disaster that was the Edsel. But here is just one: Ford is still around. Yes, the lesson is that we all make mistakes. Sometimes we make major, gigantic, huge mistakes. So be it. Such is life. Get up, dust yourself off, and move on. If God did not bring you down, then He still has some piece of business for you to be about. Get on with it.

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah goes to mount Horeb and prays: “I have had enough, LORD . . . Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” When God appears and asks Elijah what he is doing in Horeb (as oppose to Israel?) the prophet complains: “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

But God answers harshly, “Go back the way you came”. Disasters and fiascoes in our lives are not the sort of thing which hinders God and God would not have them hinder us. If anything, God seems to be impatient when we spend too much time wallowing in our misery. If we are still around, God has something for us to do and - while he will allow us a moment of pity - he then wants us to do what we were supposed to be doing all along.

Tags: Discipleship //