Go North

Go North!

One of my favorite times of the year has always been October, especially the first Friday in October.  For many years, that marked the first day of the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, and it was a tradition for my husband and me to meet a couple of friends at the fair for an afternoon and evening of people watching, livestock exhibitions, parades, fireworks, guest acts, and grazing our way across the entire 100+ acres of corny dogs, fried corn on the cob, funnel cakes, caramel apples, and on and on and on.  It was a delightful date for the four of us who had been friends for many years.

One afternoon, in the days before the advent of cell phones, we waited, patiently, for our friends near the Cotton Bowl.  Ron and Barb were never late, so Rick and I were becoming concerned when they had not shown up nearly an hour after our appointed meeting time.  Finally, we saw them hurrying across one of the adjacent parking lots.  It was obvious both were upset. 

When they arrived, we asked if everything was okay.  Barbara burst into tears as Ron began to tell us why they were late.  Unfortunately, I burst into laughter, as he explained that Barbara was to pick him up at his office at noon to expedite their arrival at the fair.  Ron had recently moved his office from one building in a local office complex to the top floor of another building in the same complex.  He waited downstairs for nearly an hour, watching for Barbara’s arrival.  Concerned, he went back into his office to try to call her. 

As he stood by the window trying to reach her, he glanced down into the parking lot and saw Barbara repeatedly circling the office building.  The problem was that it was his OLD office building she was circling, not his current one.  She had forgotten that he had moved.  He had to run across two parking areas to flag her down as she continued circling the wrong building.  Mercy is not my strong suit; to this day, though I was sorry to see Barb so distraught over the mix-up, I still laugh at the mental picture of Ron calling Barb, only to look out of his office and see her circling the wrong building.  I still don’t understand why she kept going in circles, instead of stopping the car, getting out, and going into the building where she would have realized her mistake.  Instead, she was more comfortable, in the short run, staying in the car and driving around and around the wrong building, becoming more frustrated with each passing minute.

Several years later, while teaching Deuteronomy 2:1-3, I was reminded, once more, of Barb driving in circles.  The children of Israel had been wandering in the wilderness for forty years because they doubted God and His will for their lives.  God had prepared a new place for them.  He wanted to do a new thing in their life (Isaiah 43:19).  

From heaven’s windows, God had watched them struggle to believe Him.  They were more comfortable where they were in the wilderness or even where they had been, as slaves, in Egypt.  In Deuteronomy 2:1, it says that they continued to go around and around Mt. Seir for many days.  In Deuteronomy 2:3, God finally said, “You have gone around this mountain long enough.  Just go north.”  In other words, He said, “You’re going in circles.  Get off the merry-go-round.  Just get out of that car and go north.”  The first time I taught that passage, some sweet Yankee friends of mine, who have relocated here in Georgia, cheered – until they realized that they had actually gone south.  The real point, however, is not the geographical direction, but, instead, it is the obedience to biblical direction.

Often, we continue in the same patterns in our life, expecting a different outcome, while God is compelling us to stop the madness.  “Quit behaving the same way, living the same way, doing the same things, and expecting a different result.  Instead, stop the merry-go-round,” God says, “and ask Me how to break the cycle.  Let Me give you new direction, and experience the new life that I have prepared for you.”

Are you going around and around in circles?  Are you tired of the same old pitfalls?  Do you want a life that can be blessed, filled with the peace, presence, and power of your Heavenly Father?  Then, stop the perpetual motion, ask Him to direct your every step, trust Him when He gives you your new direction, and – above all – be obedient to take the next step north.  Oh, my.  The places you will go and things you will see…

© 2011 Gerry Sisk

(06/29/11)