Week 33-Growth Can Only Come Through Change...

Last Saturday I was speaking with a friend from London that I hadn’t spoken to in months. We had a good catch up session and she mentioned how much I used to hate change. This got me thinking about how rigid and unyielding I used to be. Things had to be done a certain way and if they didn’t go according to the plans I made I would get so frustrated. Proverbs 16:9 “in their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps”. Because I was so resistant to change it meant that I couldn’t move forward because I was actually resisting God’s way and will for my life. As much as I confessed with my mouth “God let Your will be done” my actions were doing what I wanted and that was so wrong-I hadn’t truly surrendered my life to Him!

God desires growth BUT growth can only come about through change. We can’t expect to grow by doing the thing. One of the reasons why I didn’t like change was fear. Truth is most times I would only step out and do something if I could predict what the outcome would be or because it wasn’t too difficult; I could do it by myself. So basically I was placing my trust in myself and not in God. I believe that if we want to live an average and mediocre life then we don’t need God, because we can achieve that by ourselves. But if we want to live an extraordinary life, a life that is exceedingly and abundantly above and beyond what we could ever think or ask then we need God full stop.

"Growth demands a temporary surrender of security"

Gail Sheehy

So back to what I was saying, I always used to have this fear about stepping out into the unknown and that was because I was not in-tune with the Holy Spirit. Since I wasn’t taking the time to hear God’s voice, my life had no direction and I found it hard to know whether I was making the right choices and decisions. The word of God says in Isaiah 30:21 “your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way, Walk in it”. In order for us to hear the God’s voice, we must take the time to open our ears and listen (See post on Hearing God’s Voice –May 2013).

Before I FINALLY made the decision to take the leap of faith and come to Fiji I asked God to speak to me and confirm that I should leave England. And God being true to His word answered me. I remember one the ways God confirmed it to me was through Genesis 12:1 when God told Abraham the first missionary to “go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you”. BUT I still didn’t act upon it because of fear and lack of faith.  I turned a blind eye.

It was in January 2012 that I started enquiring about doing missions work. I graduated from University in July (I could have gone in July but knew that that was not the time, because I had to prepare). I sent off the application form in September that same year and only decided that I was actually going in February 2013 and left March 2013 and the Discipleship Training course commenced in April.  What does that tell me about myself? I failed to trust God and His plans. It was a big step but one I knew I had to take because deep down I always knew that if I didn’t leave in March then I would have missed out on something greater, a great opportunity, I would have failed to fulfill my purpose and calling some how. I knew that I would regret it for the rest of my life. What is God calling you to do and what is stopping you from stepping out? Believe me when I say that when you obey God, you will NOT regret it. His ways and thoughts are higher and better than our own (Isaiah 55:8-9).

If there is something I’ve learnt over the past couple of months it is to go for it! If God gives you the green light then go! Why wait, in fact the question I should be asking is what are you waiting for? Do you want to die living a unfulfilled life that lacks purpose? Explore, be daring and step out of your comfort zone into the unknown, something greater awaits you :)