Turn North

If I had to choose a verse to describe my life lately, it would be Deuteronomy 2:3. Who would find a verse in Deuteronomy to describe their life? Seriously, what is in Deuteronomy except a lot of speeches from Moses and more of the law?

Well there in the beginning of Deuteronomy lies this little verse: "Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward." Deuteronomy 2:3 KJV. Or in the language of the NASB just to make it clearer, "You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north."

That is what I feel like God has been saying to me lately. "Michelle. you have been here long enough. You have circled this mountain so many times you have it memorized. Michelle, stop going in circles, it's time to turn north."

A different direction...sometimes you just get used to same path, the same people. Sometimes you just find yourself getting so comfortable that you can walk the path and not pay that much attention.

And so maybe I have circled the mountain long enough. Maybe it is time for a different direction. What if sometimes we get so acquainted with the path circling the mountain that we forget to climb the mountain itself? Maybe we just enjoyed the mountaintop so much that we want to hang around and just keep circling what we knew at one point to be good. Maybe sometimes it's just that the mountain is familiar and that to us is good enough.

But sometimes if you listen, God whispers and says to quit circling the mountain and head in a different direction. For my family and me, this has meant a change in where we used to belong. It has meant a journey to find where God wants us to be. For me personally, it has also been a call to quit circling around the mountain carrying a backpack full of excuses. It is a call to lay down the excuses and all that encumbers me, and to quit circling and start climbing.

Maybe God is telling all of us that it's time to stop circling the mountain and to head north. What mountain are you circling and why?

---