OMG, We're Moving...And My Friend Is Not Coming With Us!!!!
- Lynn Palmer
- Feb 22, 2017
- 6 min read
I am, today, smack dab in the process of moving to another home. I must say, this process has not been the easiest to say the least! Out of all of the moves I’ve done within my lifetime thus far, this one was by far the most confusing, grievous, uncontrollable move I believe I’ve ever made.
I don’t even know where to start to begin to tell you of my experience. I have boxes filling my new home that needs to be unpacked and as they sit on my floors, table, and countertops, I am having quite the epiphany!
As I’m reflecting on my whole experience which is currently yet in progress and as I am writing this on today, I am seeing what is truly inside my heart. No matter how much and how quick I am to say that I am a lover of God, I can see some imperfections!
This move was very unexpected as it was spun about within a matter of a month due to unforeseen circumstances.
What’s funny is that things had just began to seem to be getting back on track before then due to my husband’s new job transition.
I was relaxed and at peace and so was the rest of my household, but as we learned about the move, here is where things began going a bit haywire.
Read my Daily "Manna" Devotion: When God's Word Seems Obscure
Due to this sudden change, we literally had nowhere to go! We hadn’t looked for another place because this is where we thought we’d be at least for another few years. One time about a year ago, I had the feeling that we would be moving. I shared this with my husband and he advised me not to concern myself with moving because he had plans set in place. So no matter what I felt on the inside, I stuffed it and decided to trust my husband with his plans for us.
Well, even though we may have plans and decide to hold on to things as long we could, when it’s time to let go, it-is-time-to-let-go! The Lord has truly shown me this through this process!
I didn’t know where to begin to look to find another home for my family, it was so overwhelming to say the least. If all else failed, we could at least stay at a hotel so that we wouldn’t have to be stranded and on the streets. That wasn’t a bad idea even though we would have to sacrifice lots of space!
Read my Daily "Manna" Devotion: When Plans Fail
I just hated the idea of moving! I dreaded this whole transition so staying somewhere quick and safe was easier for me to handle at this time, then to have to slave over the computer trying to find the right place at the last minute.
I didn’t know how to handle this so my ole’ friend fear decided to help me out! While I’m trying to hold my household together to make this transition safe and easy for the kids and my husband, I was the one losing it slowly and silently on the inside. Everyone else in my household had peace as they rolled with each new change. As obstacles arose, they easily maneuvered.
But this process threw me so off balance, I think I underestimated my heart. On the outside and to everyone else, I had it all together. But on the inside, I was a mess as one of my childhood fears began to resurface. I developed a fear of hard and unexpected transitions because we moved so much when I was younger. The Lord healed me from this one time before when I recognized it, but it came back with a vengeance (Matthew 12:43-44)!
Read my Daily "Manna" Devotion: Blind Spots
While we were packing and trying to find a place to live, so many things began to go wrong or at least not in the fashion I wanted them to go. Things were out of control, but yet I tried to control everything just to find order and stability. I was making so many mistakes doing this. But God had EVERYTHING in control and I didn’t even realize it because my friend fear had taken residence again.
I found a place for us that was affordable. The mortgage was unbelievably low and in our range. I began to find comfort with this because fear told me this is a great move. While on the other hand, my husband found a beautiful home that was almost exactly like the home we were moving out of. I loved this house, but I felt like it was a bit out of our price range and that we should settle on something smaller.
So the options were to live in a home that would put us right back to how we were living which was a bit more expensive or to settle on something smaller which would cause a lot of discomfort physically for my medium-sized family, but financially, we would have more.
Of course, I wanted to go with the option to save more money because this would put my mind at ease knowing that we were safe financially, at least this is what my friend fear says. But sometimes, when God wants you to stretch your faith in Him, He will point you toward the most inconvenient just to remind you of who He is! This is exactly what happened and fear didn’t like it one bit!
So now we have a place to live, but I am frantic about where we live. You see, one of the many things I’ve learned about my friend fear is that it will cause your heart to become obstinate against the move of God for your life. Fear is a natural paralyzer; it can have you not moving forward when God desires you to. And because of this, we sometimes miss many blessings!
My friend fear is very dominant and controlling, as it attempts to dictate your future so that God’s plans for your life will be ruined. Although we cannot always see it this way when we’re in fear, if we were to pay close attention, this can be detected.
Unlike wisdom, which tells us to count up the cost, fear will have us seeing illusions of possibilities and probabilities, things that aren’t really real because of what might or could happen! Fear will have us miss God!
Read my Daily "Manna" Devotion: The Plan
This is not the way we should be as devout Christians of an Almighty and All-powerful God. Fear is not my friend anymore and it cannot go with us! When God moves, we should move...when God speaks, we should be ready to listen and follow whatever He says. He knows best and He sees way beyond in our future whereas we only see things in part.
So now we have almost everything moved in and we are steadily unpacking, but as this is going on I am seeing what God had just done for us. He freed us from something we struggled to deal with. The home we lived in had so many problems, but because it was ours we were willing to do whatever it took to get things up to par.
God, however, had other plans in mind. He wanted to free us from the bondage that enslaved us each year by costing us too much to fix. But isn’t it funny how sometimes we’d rather put up with bondage than to look for ways of freedom? This is what fear can do! Just when you think fear is there for protection as a good defense mechanism, it cripples you! Fear is not your friend!!!
So I am now taking the time to enjoy God as He miraculously moves in our lives. I’ve learned to move when He moves because He knows best and He loves us.
I know now that we will be okay. I am not going to concern myself with future possibilities of the things that can go wrong because as long as God is with us in this process, He will get us through any obstacle and prepare our hearts for what’s to come. This is the job of an All-knowing and All-powerful God! Just as fear aims to block faith, I am not going to try to play God by determining every aspect of what the future holds for us!
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