U-Turn

Psalm 51:10

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a U-turn is defined as follows:

• A turn made by a car in order to go back in the direction from which it has come

• A complete change from one opinion or plan of action to an opposite one.

With the current events unfolding in the news today, my mind is focused on the second meaning of this phrase. As I watched breakfast TV this morning, my namesake on Sky news grilled a government minister as they defended a change of course on a key government policy. After hearing the justification for the change of direction, the interviewer wouldn’t settle for the answer she was given (she rarely does)! The issue wasn’t the policy change, as most of the public supported the U-turn; it was the motivation behind the change of direction.

Had the government changed their policy because they recognised they had made a poor decision or was it simply down to pressure from the public and their fellow MPs?

The distinction is essential.

If they thought their choice was right, this revealed something about their true nature. It gave us a glimpse of what their priorities are and what they honestly believe about how the world should be. If the decision was changed due to outside opinion, no real change of direction occurred. The U-turn was merely a shift in priorities to ease the pressure applied by others. The concern was with external optics not internal change.

This made me consider the course we take when we make mistakes in our own lives. When a decision we have made has direct negative consequences on the lives of others, God enables us, by his grace, to make a U-turn and change course. The motivation behind that change of direction is essential. Our desire to follow the path God has set for us should drive our decisions rather than the realisation that others have spotted our poor choices.

Authentic Christians should be about internal change rather than external optics.

The Psalms are full of examples of the many times David had to consider his poor choices and make a U-turn. After following a path away from God’s will, the loving words of a close friend prompted David to consider the direction his life was taking. Although he could not undo his decisions, his U-turn, motivated by his deep love for God, brought him back to the right path. It’s fair to say that Nathan played a crucial part in David’s U-turn but it wasn’t his words that caused a change in direction. Instead, David loved God and asked for forgiveness. He didn’t do this so that Nathan would view him differently, he was longing for God to change his heart.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right spirit within me.”

Psalm 51:10

I pray that we, like David, will recognise where we have lost our way and, motivated by our deep love of God, will make the necessary U-turn. Let us be more concerned about lasting change in our hearts than fleeting improvement in the way others see us.

Kay Moorby