I'm facing a leap of faith...I believe God is asking me to do something that scares me. I don't feel prepared or ready for the change, but I believe God is asking me to just trust. Just trust. Sounds easy enough, right? Yeah. Not so much. I have never been a big planner. I have always wanted to be the person with the five-year plan; however, it's just never seemed to happen. I have always wished that I was the person that knew from the time she was two that she wanted to do something specific and follow a designated career path and be in that career till death. I spent years praying and seeking God for what I was supposed to do for the rest of my life. A specific answer has never ever come. There are things I'm great at, things I enjoy doing, even things I absolutely love. Still there has not been the one thing I simply must do...as a job that is.
I've learned that my life path might be different than I imagined. The dream career does not seem to hold the same appeal. Instead, I have come to realize that God is simply asking me to seek Him and follow hard after His heart. As I follow Him, He will create the road for me. There may be twists and turns along the way. I may have a rest stop that I stay at for one hour and some I stay at for a few years. But He's just asking me to follow and trust.
Just trusting is not necessarily the easiest thing for me. I get scared. I worry that I might take the leap and fall flat on my face. I have been there and done that and it is as painful as it looks. I have also taken the safe road. I have stayed when I knew leaving would be even better. Safe means a little more security and a bit less anxiety. Safe means being where everyone around me thinks a thirtysomething should be at this point in life. Safe means comfortable. But God is asking me to just trust.
In the just trusting, it is sometimes difficult to focus on the voice of God. The still, small voice gets swallowed up by the millions of others voicing their opinions or advice or words of caution. It gets difficult to remember what God said in the quiet moments. To hold onto the promise that He will provide. He has a plan. He knows what is just around the corner. We need gentle reminders.
A friend sent some of those reminders my way. I am literally surrounded by incredible people. Not just normal, good friends. I mean incredible people who speak life into me when I need it most. Who provide encouragement at just the right moment, the moment when you simply want to give in. Who pray for you when you have run out of your own words. Who speak God's promises over your life and equip you to do the same.
So here is me speaking God's promise of provision over my life.
Gen 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.”
For those of you who don't know Abraham's story, here's the abridged version. Abraham and his wife Sarah were promised children. They were not promised a single child. They were told that their descendants would be as numerous as the stars. That is a lot of children. They served God and were faithful, yet they had moved past the prime child-bearing age. Sarah took matters into her own hands and gave her servant to Abraham. However, this son, Ishmael, was not the child promised by God. Instead of bringing joy and contentment, the birth of this son brought strife and jealousy. After it seemed like their chance at a family was long past, Sarah gave birth to a son, Isaac. As you can imagine, Isaac was the apple of his father's eye. He was the long-awaited promise in flesh and blood. He was proof to Abraham that God did in fact come through.
Abraham was relishing the fulfillment of his dream. All was well in his world, until God made a request. He asked Abraham to take Isaac, his only son, his pride and joy, to the mountain to worship and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Abraham had spent nearly his entire life waiting for Isaac. He had wept tears of longing. He had based his entire life upon the fulfillment of this promise. And now God was asking him to give it all up. Just like that. Sacrifice your son. Give him up. Lay down your promise and bury your dream.
Abraham's response was simple. Obedience. He gathered the rope and the wood for the altar. He chose the servants to bring along for the journey. Then he brought his son. They reached the mountain that God pointed out to them and Abraham took only Isaac up the mountain with him. He said, "The boy and I will travel farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back." Perhaps he did not want the servants to try to talk him out of his obedience. He headed up that mountain with the intention of sacrificing his son. God, however, had other plans. His provision was released at the exact moment of greatest need.
Abraham was a man of faith. A commentary I was reading on this story said, "Faith had taught him not to argue, but to obey. He is sure that what God commands is good; that what he promises cannot be broken." Abraham believed God. He believed that God had promised generations through the promise of Isaac and that God would not break that promise. God would come through, some way, somehow.
That is exactly what God did for Abraham. God is a God who sees to it...He sees to it that His promises come true. Not just for Abraham, but for me. He is Jehovah-Jireh, MY Provider. He is the God who sees to ME. He sees to it that His dreams for me are fulfilled. He sees to it that my healing is provided for, my daily needs are supplied, and my future is secure.
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