Taking the Next Step

“But I don’t want to go. For months, I begged Mom. I didn’t want to leave our home to move to a new state, hundreds of miles away. I didn’t want to say goodbye to friends and neighbors I had known forever. I didn’t want to start all over again, especially in the middle of the school year. Why can’t I stay here? But I knew why. Cancer. We had lived in Florida my whole life, but my dad had to take a new job in North Carolina to help pay for mom’s treatment. And they would not leave me behind. I just wished we didn’t have to move so far away. Change was scary. Making new friends had always been hard for me. Would they like me? Would I do well in school? What if I didn’t like it? God told Abraham to leave his home in Haran and take his family to Canaan hundreds of miles away on the other side of the Arabian Desert. So he gathered his family and everything they owned and walked across a hot, dusty land to their new home. When they arrived, he pitched a tent and built an altar to tell God, Thank You. But I often wonder: Was Abraham afraid to go? Did he ever ask God if he could stay? What gave Abraham hope during this time of transition? The answer? Abraham looked ahead at what God had promised himto make a great nation in this new place. In the same way, I can trust God is using even really hard situations for good. He is working, and His promises and kingdom aren’t shaken. He has promised to one day make all things new, and I can take the next step knowing He’ll be with me through it all. • Carolyn Bennett Fraiser What changes are you facing now? What is keeping you from taking the next step? How can Jesus’ promise to be with you affect the way you see the situation you’re facing? And remember, I [Jesus] am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20 (CSB)

Read Verses:

Genesis 12:1-8; Romans 8:28