Just Move...Closer.

A couple/few months ago I wrote a blog on "moving" in life (in the physical and spiritual realm). This was about the transition of a physical out-of-state move my family had made that translated to various emotional/spiritual moves. These emotional moves have ranged from sadness, heartbreak, to overwhelming happiness, and spiritual growth. It doesn't always take you to move 10 hours away to experience God move in your life of course. But perhaps that's what it took in ours. I believe that sitting in the same spot, being sedentary, can be harmful to our overall spiritual health. I speak from personal experience. I believe God wants us to move a lot more than we want to believe.



We should always feel God working on our hearts in some way or another. At times, He gently reminds me how much He loves me. Other times, He wrenches my heart toward something I need to be doing. Other times, He gently disciplines me. I admit that I've ignored those heart-wrenches many times throughout my life. I'm good at making excuses. After-all ya know, I've got kids to take care of. A house to keep up with. Errands to run. A husband to tend to. Homeschool. Dinner to prepare. Laundry to hang. I just *don't* have time for *that.* Other times, I've let finances get in the way. We surely can't *give* that, or *do* that. I'm guilty of this. So guilty. And what will people think? God has been working on me in this. Lately the words, "Get your priorities straight!" have been on my mind. I've had my fingers stuck in my ears like a little child trying not to listen to their parent, and God has been sweetly patting my back to get my attention. In fact, at times I feel He's shaking me. I've far too long let fear, feelings of inadequacy, and doubt get in the way of what God has been pulling me towards for far too long. And boy, is He letting me know in the biggest of ways.


I'm not one to be quick to say "God called me to this..." or "God told me..." I can only tell you what my heart is being pulled toward, and pulled from. We've got to be careful that we don't let our human emotions take over us and slap a God label on them. On the other hand though, we need to be mindful of the fact that we can be *too careful* to dismiss God's will and calling in our lives by our inability to really listen; to overcome fear, doubt, or willingness to step out of our comfort zones.


We too often want God to drop big signs in our laps in order for us to *move.* We want Him to speak audibly to us. To have a big fat anonymous check appear in our mailbox. I'm not saying He never works in those ways, but most of the time these things just don't happen. I believe the beginning workings of God leading us to move are basically put in our thoughts. He may make it to where you can't go one hour throughout the day without dwelling on that *one* thing He's pulling you toward. You can't go a day without being hounded about it. You can't sleep because of it. You can't eat without thinking about it. You can't do anything without it on your mind.


So when the seeds in our thoughts have been planted, what's the next thing to do? For most: Overcome. Overcome feelings of inadequacy. Overcome our comfort zone boundaries. Overcome doubt. And fear. I believe these are the most basic problems that we need to overcome when *moving.*


Inadequacy. Oh boy, I bet nearly all of us can relate to this. We're not smart enough. Not fit enough. Not pretty enough. Don't have enough money. We're not nice enough. Not holy or pure enough. We don't have enough education. Our education isn't good enough. Our experiences are not enough. See where I'm going? These feelings, while honestly can be at times valid in our lives, can hold us back from moving where God may be leading us. No one is worthy of being used by God. The main difference that sets apart those being used by God and those who aren't, is willingness. Are we willing to throw away *our* feelings of inadequacy and *move?*


Doubt. Since being a young teen, I struggled with doubt. Doubting God and everything about Him. Over-time I overcame this. But today, I struggle with other forms of doubt. I may not doubt the goodness of the Lord, but I *doubt* what I can do, how I can do it, and doubt how things in life may pan out if I do *this* or *that.* Sound familiar? This is when we need to deal with our doubts, and put our trust and faith in the Lord. A leap of faith occurs when we can leave doubt behind us, and move by leaping forward.


Fear. Coinciding with doubt, fear is something most of us deal with day-to-day. Fear in our finances. Fear in our family's health. Fear in the unknown. Fear of messing things up. Fear in what people may think. While I never thought I was one to care what people thought, as I got older I realized that I had missed out on doing a lot of things, out of fear that people would judge my motives. I ache in the fact that I've let that overtake me. In doing so, I rejected God many times, though ignorantly so. In doing so, many people that could have been helped, weren't. I let fear of man and things overcome a healthy fear of the Lord. Can you relate? Fear is something we have to leave behind when we take that leap in faith also. Leap, and don't look back.


Comfort Zone. I like being home. It's comfy. We've got a fireplace, comfy couches, Netflix, I like my kitchen, trampoline, garden bed, a deck to lounge out on, you name it. Nothing's better than being home in your PJs. This is my physical comfort zone. I don't have to worry about people staring at me without my make-up on, or my holey paint-splattered sweatpants. I'm quite the homebody, which, in a sense is totally fine. On the flip-side though, my being too comfortable at home in the physical and spiritual sense has kept me from going out of my comfort zone and doing things I ought to do. Like volunteer at the local food pantry. Witnessing in love to that hurt stranger. Help raise funds for missions. Or something much, much bigger than you believe you're capable of. Going out of our comfort zones makes us vulnerable. Vulnerable with our self-awareness, anxiety with people, finances, time, and even safety. Taking a leap of faith requires us to *leap* out of our comfort zones before all else.


I've asked God to forgive me on not putting my trust in Him more than I have - isn't that what all this translates to? I'm so guilty of this. He's the one I seek to love and honor the most, yet I've basically been hurting Him for many years in my distrust. I may have been unknowingly doing it, but that's no excuse. He's been working on me in this, especially more than ever. And He may be working on you as well. I told B recently that I don't want to be an old woman, look back, and painfully ache over all that I ignored my dear savior on. Basically all the things I was urged to do, and didn't do. James 4:17 states that if you know the good you *ought* to do and don't do it, is sin. I've done this every time I let feelings of inadequacy, doubt, and fear get in my way of *moving* in what God wants me to do. I don't know about you, but it's time to change things. It's time to *move.*


Over-all, we need to take our fingers out of our ears, and listen more intently on what God is wanting us to do. We need to overcome our fear, doubt, feelings of inadequacy, and ultimately step outside of our comfort zone in order to move closer to what God is leading us to.