We’re creatures of habit. We know what we love and we love what we think we know.
And that’s why we’re quick to jump to the defense of the things we know and love.
But God, our vast Creator, doesn’t see the world like we do. He doesn’t have our limits and boundaries. He sees and knows beyond what we do. So when we’re in relationship with this magnificent Creator, we might not always like what He has to say.
Here’s an example from two years ago: Seth and I moved from a farmhouse we were renting from his parents to an apartment a whole state away because we felt God moving us into something new.
Now, this move didn’t come without any resistance on our part. We were afraid. We didn’t want to leave what we knew and loved. We didn’t want to leave our home and Seth’s family. We didn’t want to leave our secure jobs where we both made a decent income. We didn’t want our cost of living to spike.
So, in all of this, when the door we were waiting for finally opened, it was easy to defend what we knew—even to our Creator, as if we somehow knew better than He did. We chose to trust what God had for us, even though we were journeying into the unknown, and that can be really scary.
But sometimes, instead of trusting, we can be quick to question God’s intentions. Maybe some of these questions sound familiar to you:
“But God, I need him in my life! I can’t be alone.”
“But God, this is my home. I could never leave.”
“But God, I don’t know how I’ll survive if you take that one thing I know and love away from me.”
Yes, we love to defend the things we know. But only in breaking that defensive cycle will we be free to discover God’s plan for our lives.
Only then can we remember that we serve a God without limits, that His plans for our lives are greater than our wildest dreams, that God will take care of us when He calls us to venture into the unknown.
So the question becomes this: How do we break the defensive cycle?
I wish I had a simple answer for that question, but I don’t. What I do have, though, are God’s promises straight to our hearts that guarantee we’ll never regret trusting Him. For He is sovereign even over the things we know and love most in this world.
Psalm 28:7
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.”
Psalm 37:5-6
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
John 14:1
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”
And scripture is filled with so many more beautiful promises that we can trust God to care for us, to provide for us, and to lead us. He is all we need. So if He asks us to give up something else we know and love, it will be okay. He’ll walk with us through that process. He never sends us out alone.
So break that defensive cycle. Hear God’s call, and respond. Don’t be afraid.
And never forget… you are onederfully created.
Love,
Becca
