The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1, NIV)
Most of us gravitate to routine as we live our lives. It is more comfortable to be in a situation or place where we are more practiced. If we have done something the same way for long enough, it is both familiar and comfortable. That’s why a swing change is so difficult for most golfers. We want to do what we are comfortable with, particularly when we are under pressure. To become a better golfer, we must overcome our need to be comfortable and exchange that comfort for a chance to become better. That process is both difficult and uncomfortable, but if we stick it out, we will play the game better.
The same process happens to us as we try to live our life for God. Change is inevitable and if we trust in God’s love for us, we can embrace it as a blessing and not something to be feared. There are seasons in each person’s life when we are allowed to settle in and rest in God’s presence. He uses these times to heal us and teach us, but he never intends for us to stay the same way and in the same place, because to do that would limit the potential he sees in each one of us.
We can try to hang on to the old and familiar, or we can trust God to take us on the adventure which is our life.So what happens to us when we are suddenly uprooted and our life situation changes? We lose our job, our kids are out of the house, we lose a spouse, we retire, we get sick. All of a sudden, those things that were familiar and comfortable don’t seem the same.
We are uneasy and can give in to fear if we fail to recognize God’s hand in our situation. It is our human nature to avoid change, but it is God’s purpose to use everything in his power to change us into what he designed us to be. There is no need to be afraid if we truly trust in God’s goodness and his ability to work out his plan for us.
I take comfort in our scripture passage for today. God called Abram to leave everything he had ever known, in order to get him to the promised land, and to give him an inheritance that would be eternal. Each of us has an eternal destiny that will require us to allow change to come into our life. We can try to hang on to the old and familiar, or we can trust God to take us on the adventure which is our life—an adventure that ends at the promised land and is traveled following his path and accompanied by him every step of the way.
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Linda Ballard
March 7, 2019
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.