Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward (Deuteronomy 2:3).
It took thirty-eight years of turning round the same axis, following the same routine, seeing the same faces, engaging in the same conversations and meetings, before God set a new course for the Israelites to trail. Thirty-eight years. That’s a long time to spend moving in circles but it served it’s purpose. Weeding out the mixed multitude, building character, learning new principles, unlearning the old and irrelevant habits, mentoring leaders for the assignment that lay ahead.
As much as the wilderness is an uncomfortable place to be at, a lot of us get stuck in it. Perhaps because we‘ve mentally, physically and emotionally adapted to such space to the point where we fail to recognize the cue to change course and move on when the whistle is blown. For it’s one thing to hear the whistle but it’s another to understand it’s message.
How then can one know when it’s time to alter the trajectory of the compass?
The story of the young girl, Queen Esther is one that is best understood by someone who has fought so many battles to have a chance at life so much so that you’ll do whatever it takes to preserve it even with the shadow of an opportunity. You would wonder how a young girl could find the wisdom to mastermind a plan-not an exit plan but a contingency plan- and with great resolve say “If I die, I die”. How about the story of Jabez? He was born in unfortunate circumstances but he took it upon himself to unlock the favour of God and change the course of his destiny. Desperate times call for desperate measures, they say. One can be pregnant with a vision/desire for days, months and years yet continue to put on a plastic smile, try not to act out of line, walk around nursing the idea, fantasize about the outcome and talk about it to anyone who cares to listen. But the second the pain of labor dawns, when the heat begins to feel like fire, when that itch turns into a sting, you won’t care what people will say anymore. The fasting and prayer you once thought was difficult will become a habit. The defining step to liberate yourself from that addiction will become do-able. No one will need to tell you to burn the midnight candle. The strength to mentally to cut off thorns and discard the toys that have been a source of distraction will suddenly come on you. You will stand up and go the required length to find answers for yourself. And you won’t stop until you get what you want.
It is that unrest in your spirit, the hunger pang from starvation, the unquenchable thirst for something more, the clear cut instruction impressed in your heart, that’s the sign that it’s time to set sail. It’s time for something new, something better, something more challenging, something more purposeful, something…more.
When God called Abraham at age thirty-five to leave everything he knew to be home in search of a place that was only a mirage in his thoughts, he obediently rose in submission. You don’t need a map before you begin. God’s thoughts of peace are enough of a promise to hold unto. Trust Him enough to keep putting one foot forward even before you see the whole path and tomorrow, you’ll live to tell the story about how you possessed your promised land.