Too late is too late

Every craft or undertaking has its sequence. The artist cannot begin to apply color without first drafting a composition. A writer must get their thoughts recorded before they begin to edit. Quilt makers need to make the top and “sandwich” the layers before they start quilting it.

Years ago I had a couple of oil painting students. One of them brought a canvas that was nearly finished, but she wasn’t happy with it and wanted my opinion. The drawing was out of proportion and the perspective was wonky. It was too late for corrections. Fixing it meant starting over.

Too late. Those are harsh words. They came up this morning as I’m reading Numbers 14. God directed His people to check out the land He’d promised them. The ‘spies’ came back with a great report, but the people were afraid and refused to enter the land. After God, speaking through Moses, pronounced a death sentence for their disobedience, they had second thoughts and said, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised, for we have sinned.”

Most of us think ‘better late than never’ but this was not God’s way of reckoning in their case. Instead, Moses told them His mind. “Now why do you transgress the command of the LORD? For this will not succeed. Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the LORD is not among you . . . and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.”

In their rebellious state, they did it anyway, were attacked by their enemies, and defeated.

Disobedience has a cost. Sometimes the cost is harsher than other times. Sometimes it can be reversed, and with humility and repentance, the command can be later obeyed. God is a God of second chances. However, as this incident illustrates, sometimes it is too late. Broken eggs cannot be unscrambled. Lost opportunities cannot be regained.

Instead, I must listen to God. He may mercifully offer another chance, but if not, I cannot presume it. As the Israelites found out, it is better to accept the consequences of disobedience than to ignore God and disobey again.

As for that painting, or the quilts where I’ve skipped ‘careful planning’ and wound up with an ugly result, going back is a waste of time. So it is with more serious infractions. Repent, bite the bullet, toss the mistakes in the garbage or put them behind me, and with the lesson learned, pay attention to the right way to do it and start again, this time obeying the Master.