I’ve been in leadership long enough to know you can’t expect different results by doing the same thing. I’ve coached and counseled people telling them that what they are experiencing today is a result of the processes they have in their life or organization. There are times when I point out a behavior or process that they need to change, that people willingly do it. Others will defend their position or attack me because that position is something they’re so dug in on that they won’t change. I try to explain if they want to change results, they have to change behaviors. You can’t simply change the direction by going in circles. At some point you have to break the cycle, break the pattern and break the behavior.
In Deuteronomy 2, the Israelites had been wandering in the wilderness for forty years. They had their own pattern that kept them there for so long. They would feel inconvenienced on the way to the Promised Land, then they would complain, then they would talk about how their life was better in Egypt, God would discipline them and provide, and then they would repeat it. Their sin and struggle had kept them there wandering until all those who had refused to go to the Promised Land had died. Now a new generation had grown up and God was preparing them to go take the land. In verse 3 God says, “You have circled this mountain long enough; turn northward” (AMP). For forty years, nothing had changed until they changed direction.
When we follow where God leads and change what He’s convicting us of, we don’t just change direction. We change destination. When we quit circling the things that are important to us and start doing what’s important to Him, we change our destiny. We all have mountains we’ve been circling that are keeping us from the Promised Land that God wants to lead us to. We just have to quit excusing our behavior, repeating what has failed and respond to what God has asked us to do. Your mountain won’t move until you change direction and turn north. Don’t just be a hearer of God’s Word. Be a doer. Today is your Deuteronomy 2:3 moment. Stop circling. Break the pattern. Follow where God leads. It won’t be easy, but it’s better than going in circles.
Photo by Akhmed Chalandarov on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 