LEAVING THE FAMILIAR Ben Pilgreen
How much do you enjoy change in your life ? I tend to like the idea of doing something new , but facing the reality of change can be so daunting for me . I don ’ t know about you , but I find a great deal of comfort in the people , things , and places that are familiar . Unfortunately , familiarity can be one of the things that holds us back the most . It can keep us from moving forward , even when we know it ’ s time for a new chapter in our story .
Think about your favorite stories from the Bible . We love seeing people or groups take new ground in some way . We love to hear about what God did for someone in the face of impossibility . When he called that person or group to step into something new he had for them , did they have to leave something familiar ? Moses had to leave the familiarity of shepherding before he could ever go to Pharaoh and free the nation of Israel . Nehemiah had to leave the familiarity of his job as cupbearer to the king before he could ever go back and rebuild Jerusalem . Esther had to be willing to leave the mindset that she was just in the palace to be the queen if she was ever going to step up and save her people . Listen in on what Luke tells us the disciples had to leave in order to follow Jesus : “ They pulled their boats up on shore , left everything and followed him ” ( Luke 5:11 ).
It seems clear leaving what ’ s familiar isn ’ t an exception when it comes to stepping into what God has for us . This is the normal pattern for all of us who want to move toward the story God is wanting to write with our lives . Consider Jesus himself . He ’ s always existed . He ’ s always been in the presence of God the Father . But for him to carry out the mission
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