Going In Circles

Going in Circles

Women Wandering In The Wilderness

Read: Numbers 14:26-35

At last! thought Alisa. I’m finally getting somewhere. She finally understood why the park ranger had tried to discourage her from hiking this particular trail alone. At some point, she had left the trail. Now she had used up her water and most of her energy, but at least she was back on track. Suddenly, Alisa felt sick as she recognized the same spot where she had stopped for a break two hours before.

The Israelite women knew the feeling of going in circles. God had brought the people of Israel to the rich land he had promised to give them, but they had allowed fear and disbelief to keep them from entering it. Although God had revealed his power and presence to them in numerous ways, the people refused to trust in his promises. God judged their disobedience by giving them another route to follow that forced them to wander in the wilderness for forty years.

How these women must have despaired as the years passed by, filled with endless traveling and the knowledge that their own lack of faith had doomed them to this lifestyle. They must have spent a lot of time imagining how their lives might have been if only they had stepped over into the Promised Land in faith (see Numbers 13:25-33).

It’s not pleasant to know that we have just wasted our time and effort by covering the same ground again instead of moving closer to our destination. The same thing can happen in our spiritual lives, although this is often not obvious to us. God has given us his Word to guide us on our journeys of becoming more like him. When we refuse to follow his instructions for godly living, we find ourselves wandering aimlessly through life instead of enjoying the blessings of obedience. If we feel that our lives are going in circles, we don’t have to wonder why—it’s because we have wandered away from him.

I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word.

Psalm 119:67