THE LEDGE: It’s Time to Move
By Byron Washington, Columnist
Deuteronomy 2:3 says, “You have been skirting this hill country long enough. Head north.” Why do we stay in places longer than we should? This verse suggests that the Israelites had been going around a mountain for an extended amount of time. They had been seeing the same sights and looking at the same trees until God made it apparent that it was time for them to move on.
My family and I recently relocated from Shanghai, China, and are now in Abuja, Nigeria. Moving is not an easy thing. It is time-consuming, can be frustrating, and may cause anxiety because you are often leaving something familiar and heading into the unfamiliar.
In our lives, it is very easy to stay where we are because it is comfortable, even if we dislike the environment. We all know somebody who “hates” their job yet they will not leave it. They know how things operate, have seniority, and do not want to have to learn anything new.
Many of us, over the last few years, have gone around in the same circle. Somehow, we have been hoping that something will change but nothing has changed.
Let me provide a few suggestions for deciding to move forward. First, do not complain. Do not complain about where you are, what you need, and what you do not have. In the amount of time we waste complaining, we could have started to outline a course of action to change our life. That being said, we may need certain things but complaining about it to people or on social media does not change anything.
The second suggestion is to resist the urge to make excuses. There is an excuse for everything. Honestly speaking, there can be barriers to moving forward such as money, insufficient support, or lack of knowledge. These are all legitimate barriers but they become excuses when we do not attempt to overcome them. When individuals have a “response” to a problem and have never attempted to address the issue, they are teetering on the line of excuses.
Lastly, you cannot multitask and be distracted. When you read the verses that follow the third verse, the Lord instructs Israel not to engage with the various inhabitants whose lands they would pass through as they headed north. You cannot make progress trying to fight multiple battles on various fronts. You cannot leave your current job, launch a new business, learn a language, start a family, go back to school, and sue your next-door neighbor. Pick your target or your goal and focus on that. Research shows that contrary to popular belief, humans are not good multitaskers.
Brothers and sisters, you have been where you are too long. You do not have to wait until December 31 to decide to move on. Start moving forward right now. It is time to move.
