What in the world was I thinking? January 2014, I packed up my stuff and jumped on a plane with only the words of “GO 2014”. Who in their right mind is crazy enough to give up the comforts of what they know and walk into the unknown. To leave my friends, family, house, job and even dog behind not knowing if I will ever see them again? To leave a predictable income and support system and go into a lifestyle of not knowing where I would stay, or what I would eat? Would I end up on the streets with nothing? I had no idea what I was doing and all I had was the words of God. Everything that I gave up left me walking into a world that would shake my life, leaving me with the question of where do I put my trust? Do I truly believe that God will take care of my every need or are they just words I throw around?
This idea of giving up everything doesn’t make sense to most people. They would look at me and think how stupid it is to just leave it all behind. Years of building up this life, flushed down the drain. Retirement, security, everything given up for what reason? You might not understand it yourself. If I am honest, I struggled with this idea and questioned God a few times myself? But in all reality this simple act of obedience and walking into the unknown has been the biggest blessing of my life.
For years, I talked about having faith and fully trusting God with my everything. But in all reality I had no need to fully trust Him. I had a steady income, a house, a car and great friends that always came through when I needed help. It was easy to say I trusted Him, but that was all just talk. I had never really been in a situation that caused be to fully trust Him until I walked away from everything I knew and into a world that I wasn’t familiar with; here was my chance to see if this trust that I proclaimed was genuine.
What I found was, it is only in leaving our comfort zone that we find out if we truly trust God. We can do a lot of things on our own strength while saying we trust Him. But in all reality, we can’t see how far our faith will be stretched and grown without being in over our heads with no where to turn but to God. So many times people want to throw in the towel when trials hit and give up. Those should be considered the best times of our lives, because it gives us an opportunity to cling on to Christ and trust Him more. When trials come, our circumstances say that there is nothing else we can do, but that is when God comes in and carries us through our struggles and builds our faith.
If you are comfortable in life right now, enjoy it but don’t expect life to be easy forever. And be cautious not to make an idol out of what you have because if you put your trust in your comfort and things of this world, your life will break and shatter with ease when those things are taken away. When you fully trust God through the good and the bad, your life will stand on solid rock that will not be shaken. You will be able to find joy through it all because you know that God is in control and knows what He is doing.
You might not be called to move to a different country, but we are all called to make sacrifices and be obedient to the call that God has placed on our lives. The question is, do you trust Him enough to set aside your wants and be content with only your needs? Or do you find your god to be the materialism of this world? This world is extremely temporary and where we put our trust is critical; so really think about it because we are not promised tomorrow. It would be an eternal bummer to get to the gates of heaven and say to God “I trusted you”, but hear the words “I never knew you.” So join the amazing life of fully trusting God with your everything and what how your life will be changed.
God bless you and I hope you find freedom in fully trusting God 🙂
