Go Back and Make It Right

‘...if you are displeased, I will go back.’ Numbers 22:34 NIV

A lace-maker was working on a very intricate design when she noticed a mistake at the beginning of her work. To the untrained eye it was inconspicuous and she could easily have camouflaged it, but moments like that separate the professional from the ‘dabbler’. She worked all night, painstakingly unravelled her work till she reached the flaw, fixed it and started over again. When the angel blocked Balaam on the road, Balaam said, ‘I have sinned. I did not realise you were standing in the road to oppose me…if you are displeased, I will go back.’ There are times when you need to go back and make things right. Now, God doesn’t usually send angels to tell us we’re off-course; He speaks through His Word, through a trusted friend, or through our conscience. Joni Eareckson Tada says, ‘If the Holy Spirit reveals we’ve made an error, it’s pointless to go on unless we go back… Sometimes you get so far in life and realise…the threads just aren’t coming together; you’ve made a mistake somewhere along the line. Your sins have come home to roost. We do ourselves a disservice when we merely make a quick mid-course correction. If you want the ends to come together, then ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you “dropped the stitch”.’ ‘We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.’ If the Holy Spirit is dealing with you right now about some unfinished business in your life, stop, go back and make it right. It’s not easy, but God will honour your humility and obedience.