“‘Leave your country and your people’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’” (Acts 7:3 NIV)
I am reminded this morning that God often asks sons and daughters to leave friends and family and familiar territory to go into a foreign land. It is a a privilege to let go of comfort of known and to embrace the unfamiliar of saying ‘yes’ to God. We are grateful for the calling, wowed that God would have a plan for our small existence. We ask for the strength to follow His instructions wholeheartedly.
I’ve been thinking about comfort lately; how I crave it and how loudly my flesh opposes comfort being stripped away. I’ve mentioned it; we’ve moved to the country. For some, it’s a dream come true, for the Thoresons, it’s an adjustment.
We are renting a small cottage in the woods for dirt-cheap because that’s the price of our ‘yes’ in this season. We’ve been battling the bugs since our very first look-see; wasps outside and all kinds of creepy crawlers inside. Living in the woods means no internet; at least at the moment. We are down in the hollow and the trees are thick and beautiful; blocking out satellite signal altogether. We’ve downsized from a three bedroom to a two bedroom. We’ve let go of closets and cabinets and an outlet in the bathroom. I miss dumb stuff, like an ice maker and screens on the windows.
Yesterday, it was toilet paper. You laugh, but I’ve never lived with a septic system before. Turns out my Sam’s Club tp is premium and septic tanks only like economy. Who knew that something as insignificant as toilet paper is yet another way to live out my ‘yes’?
I’m encouraged by Abraham. He let go of comfort; only he didn’t move out to the woods of south Texas to battle bugs and citified sissyness. No, Abraham moved to an entirely different country. He moved to a land he had never set foot in, to live with people he’d never met. Abraham obeyed because God promised him an inheritance that could only be gained on foreign soil. Abraham believed God at His word and set out to make it so.
“He gave them no inheritance there, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land…” (Acts 7:5 NIV)
We are reminded, God’s promises are far-reaching. God is playing a long game because He is playing for keeps. He’s playing for eternity. Like Abraham, we may not see the fullness of His promises come to fruition in our lifetime, but that’s ok because we are not limited to our lifetime. We have forever!
God did something eternal through Abraham’s obedience, through his discomfort and displacement. Abraham’s ‘yes’ yielded a reality that affected a thousand generations. May we live out our ‘yes’ as well! May our ordinary lives make an eternal impact. May we live (and die to comfort and self) for the Kingdom’s sake.
You see, somehow God is able to redeem our discomfort for glorious Kingdom advantage. Our light and momentary affliction is ultimately for Kingdom benefit. Abraham was dislocated for the promise of belonging. Jesus left heaven for the sake of salvation. Paul was persecuted as he spread the gospel. Discomfort accomplishes a lot in the Kingdom!
I’m thinking about my own small ‘yes’ to God. It’s not as big as Abraham’s, but for me it’s uncomfortable. It’s letting go of the familiar and taking hold of the unknown. I’m excited to see what God accomplishes; what Kingdom things He brings about in the months and millennia yet to come.
“If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings which we suffer.” (2 Corinthians 1:6 ESV)
Oh Lord, please give us the courage to discomfort ourselves for Kingdom benefit. Forgive us for our craving of the easiest life. Help us let go of the familiar and take hold of the calling You’ve put in our hearts. May we be willing to live in strange places for the sake of Your Kingdom. Amen.