As the Israelites were on their journey to freedom, they got bogged down -- their wheels were spinning,
but they were going nowhere.
Every time they encountered a crisis they longed for their old life with its familiar routines
rather than blazing new trails.
It is always easier to dream over the gilded memories of other years than to face the stern realities of today.

One of the first times this occurred was just before they reached the Red Sea.
Discovering that the Egyptian army was after them and with the barrier of a narrow arm of the Red Sea
ahead of them, they thought they were done for.

They cried to Moses, "What have you done to us, in bringing us out of Egypt?
Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, 'Let us alone, and let us serve the Egyptians.'
For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."

Moses took the people's case to God.
But God said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me?
Tell the people of Israel to go forward."

Their predicament was like that of a mountaineer who was bewildered by some road signs at a crossing.
The signs were of no practical help to him.
He said, "I can tell the figgers, but I can't read the words.
I know how fur, but not where to!"

The second episode happened when the Israelites were much farther along on their journey.
Many years had passed, and they were two-thirds of the way to the Promised Land.
Again the difficulties ahead loomed large.
The problems seemed insoluble.
In the mountain country of Seir, on the boundaries of Edom, the Israelites ceased their forward journey.

They turned back toward the Red Sea.
For days they literally went in circles, getting nowhere.
They were just spinning their wheels.
They were stalled on dead center.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "You have been going around this mountain long enough;
turn northward."

In another account of the wilderness pilgrimage (Numbers 21:14) we read,
"The soul of the people was much discouraged because of the ways."
It was a discouraging experience traveling far and getting nowhere.
Doesn't this sound familiar?
This is a familiar experience to all of us.

For example, take the church.
There are times when the life and work of the church seemed to be going nowhere.
With low attendance and very little growth it seems that the work of the church is stalled.

We also find serious situations in our cities.
Moral and spiritually, where are we going?
Civilized man seems to be spinning his wheels -- going nowhere.

And what about our personal lives?
Here is where many of us feel the problem the most.
And it can happened to any of us.
Each one of us has different personal involvements that require different specific solutions.
But there are some things that we can do about our personal situations

We can analyze our personal situations.

What is our personal mountain that we have gone around and around.
Does it concern our education, our family, or our job?
Does it have to do with taking a stand on a personal moral issue?
Does it have to do with our relationship to Christ or the church?

God may be saying to some of us, "You have compassed this mountain long enough,
turn northward."
We must realize that our own initiative and will power are necessary to any real breakthrough.
Gumption is important.
We cannot expect God to do everything for us while we do nothing.

Dr. E. Stanley Jones tells about time in his life when he faced a heavy drain on his physical resources,
with a six-month speaking tour where he was to address large audiences.
He would be speaking four or five times a day, and almost every day.

A friend of his had been doing research with vitamin pills.
He had discovered that when wheat was four inches tall it seemed to have the highest concentration
of vitamins that could be found in any plant.

So the research scientist told Dr. Jones that if he would take 20 of those grass pills every day,
he would have all the vitamins that he needed.
Dr. Jones took them religiously, and ended the six-month speaking tour in abounding health.

When asked for the secret of his amazing vitality, he would answer: "Grace, grass, and gumption
-- the grace of God which enabled me to do more than otherwise I could have done,
my own gumption and will power, and the grass pills."
Dr. Jones said that the people in his audiences never asked about the grace or gumption,
but where can you get the grass pills?

We want everything easy and fast.
We would like to do things without expending any effort.
Gumption is important.
God will not do everything for us while we do nothing.

God says to us also: "Why cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward."

We also need faith in God.

When God says, "Turn northward," we must believe there is a purpose in our doing so,
and if we follow His leading, we shall arrive in His Promised Land.

"Be strong and a good courage: be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed:
for the Lord thy God is with thee, whethersoever thou goest." (Josh. 1:2)

With our faith in God we shall go forward!
"You have encompassed this mountain long enough; turn northward!"
And you may do so by the grace of God.

Someone said to Augustus St. Gaudens, "Mr. Gaudens, is not your statue of Lincoln
your greatest work?"
Without an instant hesitation the sculptor responded, "My next work is always my greatest."

We must not tarry about the mountains of the past, the best work for God is ahead of us.
I believe that the greatest days of ministry are ahead of us, but we must have grace and gumption
to face the future and take advantage of its opportunities.

Go forward!
God is building His church!

Sermon by Dr. Harold L. White