We all have probably been part of a conversation that ended with the declaration, “we are just going in circles.” It is a recognition that ongoing dialogue would probably be pointless. It is the cry of the unproductive and unyielding, the utterance of futility and uselessness. If you are “going in circles,” you aren’t getting anywhere, and it is a pretty good indication that you are lost, far from where you hoped or intended to be.
Unless, of course, you are Abraham. In Genesis 13:3 we are told that Abram (who later become Abraham) went back to where he had started. After traveling for a while, he landed “at the place where his tent had been at the beginning.” The previous verse tells us that God had blessed Abram on his journey (Gen 3:12), and yet, the path he took was circuitous. After numerous stops, and dealing with a famine, he came to where he had already been. If you or I were Abram, we would probably wonder what the point of all the moving was. Who knows, maybe he was also thinking that.
While we are not told what Abram thought of his roundabout travels, we do know that when God brings him back to this place, a critical event occurs. It is when Abram comes back to where he began that he realizes that Lot and he need to separate. The livestock and resources they each had accumulated were too much and they needed to go their own ways. As a result, Abram relocates to the land of Canaan, the land that God promises to bring the Israelites back to after their enslavement in Egypt. Lot heads in the other direction and ends up in Sodom and Gomorrah, a land that would eventually be destroyed (although, after Abraham’s petitions, Lot is rescued from the destruction.) Perhaps God knew that Abram would be more likely to depart from his nephew in a place with which they were both familiar. Perhaps God wanted Abram to see that, although they were literally walking in circles, the journey wasn’t pointless; He was beginning to enact what He had planned. We may not know all that God was doing through their roundabout journey, but we know this; it was intentional. He had not abandoned Abram; back to where he was “at the beginning,” is exactly where God wanted him to be.
Precious saint – sometimes it might seem like we are walking in circles. Perhaps the dream that you are pursuing seems to constantly escape your grasp. Perhaps, despite your best efforts and your heartfelt surrender to God’s will, it seems like you can’t make forward progress; you can’t get beyond where you currently are. Perhaps, beloved child, you seem stuck in a circular routine, a situation that you long to be free of, however God has yet to release you. Perhaps all your hard work seems wasted because you end up in the exact same place where you began.
If this is the case, take comfort in this, just as God was with Abram, He continues to walk with His children today. If we are faithful to follow Him, we can trust where He leads, even on the road that doesn’t seem to go anywhere at all. We may never know why God brings us back to the place where we began, but if He is our guide, you can have confidence in the path where He is taking us. He is with His kids and when we seem to be going in circles, we can take comfort in knowing that it is He who is walking alongside us.
