The Driving Urgency of God

This year I decided to read Chronologically through both the OT and the New.  Reading Mark chapter 1 the other day two things I had never noticed before stood out to me.  

Were all familiar with how after Jesus’ baptism the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted and tested over a 40 day period.  That passage has always proven a comfort when I am going through a hard test or trial.  It is easy to think that God only wants to give us good gifts and so when bad things happen all we need to do is take our authority and rebuke the devil.  Frustratingly ,  that just doesn't seem to solve things as quickly as we would like.  Often when challenges arise I assume this obstacle needs to end “chop-chop” cause it can’t possibly be the will of God…but then the struggle drags on or comes back over and over again.  Then this verse comes to mind and I am reminded that it was not satan who led Jesus into the dessert to be tempted, but the Holy Spirit.  Maybe instead of yelling at the enemy when things seem to start hitting the fan, I should stop, take a deep breath and ask “Holy Spirit are you teaching me something in this moment?  Papa is there a bigger picture at play here then what I can see?”  Now that does not mean we just stay in the misery of a bad moment, under the misconception that God sent the suffering therefore it is His will for our life and we ought not resist it.  We still have the authority to command the mountain to be moved, the disseas to be healed and release the answer to come forth.  God has equipped us with all we need, and He has won the victory already at the Cross.  He has made available to every Child of God the weapons of our warfare and it is His desire to train us to use those tools and our authority skilfully. That we may see God move us into victory.

Although I have read the book of Mark multiple times, I must have always glossed over this one particular phrase.   It does not say the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness but that the Spirit drove Him.  Now there is a big difference between leading and driving.   You can walk in front of horses, lambs or even your dog and expect them to trustingly, lovingly follow you with an eagerness.  Leading conjures up images of gently going before making a path that is easy to follow.  The one doing the following actually wants to go with the leader and is zealous to draw near.  

"a dusty view" helping a friend to gather and move

his herd in the spring or early summer of 2015

The idea of driving someone is forceful.  You drive and push cattle from behind.  You get in their space,  make them eager to move forward away from the pressure you are applying. Now you can drive animals slowly, letting them take their time as needed to get to where you are going…but it is never fully peaceful for the one being driven.  They can’t stop at will, lie down and take a rest without fear of the pursuer catching up to them and bullying them into moving again.   Sometimes you have to be aggressive even a little loud if the cattle, horse or whatever/whomever you are driving is particularly reluctant.  Nobody likes to be pushed into something.  Animals may need to be driven but they don't love it even if things are kept at a slow pace.  There is a always just a little bit of fear and dread or annoyance involved- even a feeling of not having any control over the matter.

Reading that the Spirit Drove Jesus into the wilderness for this 40 days of testing and trial paints a completely different picture in my mind.  I have often felt driven by circumstance maybe even God into a path I did not want to take at the time.  

Curious I looked up the word.  In Greek it is the word Ekballo.  I had no idea.  This is like one of my favorite Greek words!!!! I use it a lot when I talk about or pray for missions.

The word Ekballo is used when the Bible says Jesus drove or cast out demons.  It is a forceful word that means God, by His power thrust out the unwelcome spirit. They had no choice in the matter they had to leave.  Ekballo is used when Jesus told the the disciples to Pray that the Lord would send (ekballo) laborers into His harvest fields.  When the Lord sends us, we really have no option but to go.  Often that is a prayer I pray over myself.  

“Lord, Ekballo me into the harvest field You have called me to.  

Catapult me into the destiny and plan You have for my Life.  

Show me where, ‘cause my heart is eager to cry “Here I am Lord, send me!!!”

The second thing that caught my eye was how frequently Mark used the phrase “immediately”.  How did that never jump out at me in the past?  Seven different times in the first chapter alone we read the word Immediately.

Speaking of Jesus during His baptism “and immediately coming up out of the water…”  “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness”

“They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” was the response of Simon and Andrew to Jesus’ call.  

Three other instances in this passage we read phrases like “as soon as” or “at once”.  Although translated slightly differently their meaning is the same and in Greek the word Euthos is used consistently.   So 10 x in a single chapter Mark uses a word the translates Right Now!!!  Apparently the phrase will be used around 40 times in the entire Gospel of Mark.

I have often admired the disciples and their immediate response to leave all else and follow Jesus.  How well did they know Him?  What had they heard about Him that would cause them to leave family, home, career, community?  They left everything they knew and loved to follow some itinerant teacher into an unknown future.  They don’t seem held back by all the rational questions they surely should have asked.  “Who does this guy think He is?  Where will this road take me?  How will I be provided for?  Can this man really teach me all I want or need to know  What will my family say or think?”

This entire chapter depicts a total and complete surrender in those who chose to follow Jesus.  And In Jesus we see a real urgency to be about the Father’s business.  We see His compassion and His drive.  In all involved in this chapter we see nothing lazy, half-hearted or apathetic.  There were no luke-warm decisions or reluctant commitments.  Just as Jesus and those first followers stepped into this journey holding nothing back, the same should be said for us!

We ought to be living completely abandoned to God, surrendered to Him over all else, attentive to His leading and passionate for what matters to His heart.  I am not there yet, but I want to be, don’t you?

Lord, help me to be attentive to the things on Your heart,

eager to go after You and what matters most to You!