I'm back in our condo, the place we've lived for the past 6 1/2 years.
It's comfortable here.
I know where everything is. I know what to expect. Sure, it has its cons, but at least it's predictable.
As I walked in for the first time in 6 weeks, I couldn't help but wonder:
Did we make the right decision?
Change is hard. I've written about this before.
Since May, I've been training for a marathon. I kept thinking that because God called me to register, it would get easier. I'd get faster. Maybe I'd even get that light and fresh feeling that runners talk about.
I have some issues with my legs. They hurt, a lot. They feel like lead sometimes when I run. They never really feel good.
I had a hope that God would heal them while I was running, that He would be glorified in how quickly and how gloriously I finished.
Well, God did not heal my legs while I ran. And while I started off strong, I kept getting slower and slower. My stomach revolted. My body screamed at me for pretty much 20 miles.
But I didn't give up.
I decided since God called me to run to raise awareness about a cause about which I am deeply passionate, since He asked me to be a voice for the voiceless, it wasn't about glamor.
As part of our transition to Virginia, I am leaving the ministry that God has allowed me to shape over the past 9.5 years and be shaped by. As I spoke to my dear, dear friends at Alive in Christ this week, I remembered something.
Often we must embrace the discomfort in order to be obedient.
We must embrace the discomfort to get to the Promised Land. I wrote about this in Stepping into your Jordan (one of my favorite posts, and a timely reminder). I wrote about it years ago in Craving Egypt.
The Israelites did not want to embrace the discomfort.
Egypt was familiar. Yeah, they might have been slaves, but there are meat to eat there, not this miracle bread from heaven!
And the Promised Land was scary. There were giants there, and rivers at flood stage, and towns with high walls around them.
I finished the marathon. It was not pretty.
And as I spoke to my wonderful perseverers at Alive in Christ the other night, I reminded them (and myself) that sometimes we need to embrace the pain of discomfort in order to take hold of all God has for us.
Today, I pack. Today, I keep answering the same questions: did you sell the condo? Did you get jobs? No and no. This move doesn't make any logical sense, yet we embrace the discomfort in order to walk forward in what we believe God is calling us to.
Lord, I don't want to wander aimlessly in the wilderness for decades when the journey need only take 2 weeks. I want all You have for me. Help me to trust, to step out, to take hold of Your hand as You guide and lead. Help us to embrace discomfort, believing that the Promised Land is on the other side.
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