MOVING DAY
If you have ever moved from one house to another, you know how much work it is. This past summer we helped two of our sons move on two different occasions. We have lived in our current house for nearly 20 years and I had actually forgotten just how much work moving could be.
The thing about moving is that almost everything needs to be boxed up. Not only boxed up but then when you get to the new place, unboxed. It is quite the work to figure out what is what and where it all belongs. If you don’t label the boxes, it could take days to figure it out. One of the things that I noticed about our moving adventures this past summer is that some of the boxes we moved came out of the storage area. To be quite honest, I think some of these boxes had not been opened since the last move.
Isn’t that just like us to just move things from one place to another?
Often times we come to God in prayer about a struggle we may be encountering, but many times what we do is bring it in a box. We open it just alittle bit, just enough for God to peek in and see what is in the box, but then we put that struggle, that temptation right back in the box and tape it up and put it back in storage for later use.
Just like the boxes we keep in storage that have no use in our daily life, these temptations and struggles have no purpose either. Why are we hanging onto things that we have no use for? Often times we hang onto things because we think someday we will need it or want it. Change is not easy for many of us. Moving day is often emotional as we let go of what is comfortable or what we know as “home”.
I have noticed many times in the Bible that people were always on the move. Abraham was constantly in transition and nomadically moving around. You can read in the early books of the Old Testament about the constant moving of the people. I often wondered why God would move His people so much?
Could it be because in stability we become comfortable, but yet in transition we become transformed!
Numbers 9:21-23 (NLT) Sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and lifted the next morning. But day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and moved on. Whether the cloud stayed above the Tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on. So they camped or traveled at the Lord’s command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses.
As often as they moved, I doubt that they had the freedom to hang onto useless, unnecessary boxes. Sometimes in order to seek God, we must be willing to move. Just like the cloud moved for the Israelites, the cloud often times moves in our lives. It may be moving to another city, or a new church or possibly it is just moving to another pew. But whenever your cloud moves you, remember that God is still in the cloud. He is still with you. He moves with you. But it just might be time to leave some of those useless boxes behind!
Is it your moving day?
You can find more daily devotions over at my blog http://womentakingastand.blogspot.com
I love what you said…”Could it be because in stability we become comfortable, but yet in transition we become transformed!”
I think that I am sometimes too comfortable to move on, take the next step of faith. I don’t like to be out of comfort zone.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom and making me think about moving forward.
Loved this post. Today is the day I’ll be leaving my city/state I’ve known all my life to a new city/state 13 hours away. I looked up encouragement for moving day- I found your blog post. Thank you for your words and for pointing me to Jesus. This post encouraged my heart. Blessings!