The turtle-on-a-fence-post test

The turtle-on-a-fence-post test
by Rev. Jack Hulsey

Quick: when you see a turtle on a fence post, what does that tell you?  It tells you somebody put it there, doesn't it? Of course it does, unless you live in a part of the country where they have fence-post jumping turtles, that is.  That bit of humor has a deeper vein of wisdom below the surface. It's a way of reminding us that there are some things in this world that definitely and probably don't happen by accident, and the proof of that is in the event.

 I was reading a book several years ago called The Handbook of Magazine Article Writing, in it there was a piece about Alex Haley (Roots).  It seems he keeps in his office a picture of a turtle on a fence post.  “Any time I start thinking WOW, isn't it marvelous what I've done,” Haley says, “I look at that picture and remember how this turtle – me – got up on that post."

Remembering how we got where we are is a problem for many of us. In the Bible, you find characters from the first book to the last who never tired of giving themselves the credit for things God had done for them. Years ago former Texas governor Ann Richards liked to say, "They were born on third base, but came to believe that they hit a triple."

One biblical character, whose whole life, sadly seemed to have no higher purpose than to illustrate this principle was a king named Uzziah. The most detailed version of his life story is told in 2 Chronicles chapter 26. 

Uzziah became king at sixteen and served as king for 52 years.  It is significant to note that he started out very much in God's good graces. "As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success (v 5b)," the story goes.

Triumph after triumph followed in his wake.  But then came that one dark moment when he stepped over the line, started believing perhaps that he was bigger than he really was.  We can almost see the end of this story coming, can't we? 

In verse 16 it tells us that Uzziah probably didn’t know about the turtle on the fence post because he began to think that his great success gave him the right to act corruptly and unfaithfully before the Lord.  He entered the Temple and began to burn incense on the Altar of Incense.  That wasn’t his job to do and when Azariah the priest ordered him to “get out of the sanctuary,” he said, “for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the Lord God."  Uzziah, of course, got angry at the priests and then, all of a sudden, broke out with leprosy on his forehead.  The Bible tells us that he was a leper until the day he died.

I hope as you read this today and hear the message that you will remember the turtle on the fence post and understand how important it is to acknowledge God's providence, presence, and provision as we journey through this life.

(From the Pastor's Study, by Rev. Jack Hulsey, Praise & Worship of Woodlake Baptist Church, April 26, 2015)