Go North!

I realized this week that I have been failing the same test for a few years. I was looking at a certain situation through the lens of what someone else needed to do instead of what I needed to do differently. Do you have any areas in your life like that? You know, places where you have made others the focus instead of looking within? It's a tough place to be in because it requires a deep level of truth and self examination. I'm convinced, however, that if you are open to the work that God wants to do in you, you will see the fruit in everything and everyone around you. You see, this morning the Lord said to me, “Stop circling the same mountains." He told me that true freedom comes when your joy and peace are not contingent on someone else.

You see, there are challenges and tests that God puts in front of you to mature and grow you. Mountains! They might require your faith to be stretched, your responses to be perfected and your trust to be elevated. They don't tend to be fun and actually, most times, you want to run the other way. However, in actuality, they are designed for you to pass! Here’s the thing though, you have to first recognize what is happening. Sometimes you have take off your immediate “it's the devil” lens and see what is really going on. You have to step back and ask yourself, “Have I seen this issue before? Are the same themes replaying with different characters? Am I the common denominator?” These can be challenging questions but necessary if you are to stop circling  the same mountains.

Do you remember the opening chapters of Deuteronomy where Moses recaps their history to the Israelites? He reminds them how they ended up in the wilderness and gives instructions about their next steps. At the beginning of chapter 2, Moses talks about heading back through the wilderness towards the Red Sea, “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.” ‭‭(Deut.‬ ‭2:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬) The Lord stopped me right there and perhaps I'm being too deep but this is what He brought up to me. The Red Sea represents moving forward. It was the place of escape and deliverance for the people of Israel. So it was interesting to me that the people were held up at Mount Seir for “many days” on their way to deliverance. Sometimes, you are on your way to your best you but your reactions to situations, old hurts, past experiences keep you in the same place for years. You have the same responses and make the same decisions over and over again and wonder why you can't move forward or keep seeing the same issues. Well…the Lord told Moses that enough was enough. “And the LORD spoke to me, saying: ‘You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward.” (Deut.‬ ‭2:2-3 NKJV) In other words, stop going around this same mountain over and over again. Come up! It's time to do something different instead of repeating the cycle. Change your direction and your focus.

So many times, the rut is comfortable. What you have always done and known makes your responses seem acceptable. But the truth of the matter is, until you decide to get off that carousel and head towards your freedom, you will not see real victory. You have a choice today to stop circling the same mountain. Look at what has been re-occurring in your life and have a truth moment. Did someone make you stay where you are or have you chosen to walk around the mountain of anger, hurt, depression and low self esteem? I would dare say that in many cases, you, like the Israelites looked toward freedom but got stuck at the mountain. But I hear the Lord saying, “It's time to go north. You have been circling this mountain for too long.” I am a witness that when you acknowledge where you have been and decide to take the steps to move forward, peace and joy will meet you there.

Amen