Will you believe God?

One of the hardest things to do in life is find a church home. Since I've been married, we have moved out of state 4 times. So each of those by necessity required a church move. But this is the first time that we have felt God leading us to change churches while in the same city. It has been a very interesting experience. We didn't "fall out" with anyone. We wholly believed that God said that season was complete and closed. So this is what God showed me with this situation.

Yes, there are genuine church hoppers out there: people who only want to go to the newest place on the block, or leave when the gospel begins to address sin areas in their lives, or fall out with people and so they take their proverbial ball and go home. These are the folks who won't commit to any place, but they just go with the flavor of the day.

Many people find it more convenient to hide behind the legitimate issue of "I don't want to be a church hopper." In reality, there really is something deeper going on. There are many Christians who are just going through the motions on Sunday. Some have attended a particular church all of their lives. They cannot ever see themselves attending anywhere else. However, if you look at their spiritual lives, they are stale and stagnant. Others know in their heart that God has told them to move, but they are looking for ways to negotiate with God because they will miss the relationships. Or there are so many biblically bankrupt churches on the landscape, that they don't even know where they might start to look for a new church home.

I think the root of all of this is fear. Most people stay where they are because they are scared to leave. That is not necessarily because God hasn't revealed it to them, but honestly because they are scared to be without a church home, not to have their name on the roll at some church. They cannot imagine it any other way. But that's easy. That doesn't take any faith. You just go along with the status quo. Change is difficult. I get that!

But let me humbly suggest that sometimes God is trying to grow you, to take you out of the predictable and plant you in a new field. You miss out on your blessing because you are afraid to trust God, to really believe that He can change your situation.

But what if you would believe God and trust His plan and not your fear? What if you would dare to believe that He sees your situation and will not allow you to wander in the desert for 40 years? Because ultimately, that is our fear! What if He doesn't deliver us? Then we either go back to where we were or we stay adrift.

It is a hard road. I'm a witness. It can be scary. You can feel isolated, and many times you question whether you made the right decision. But just maybe.....God is up to something and He is putting the pieces together to do an even greater thing. If we would just join Him in His work, in His plan.

WOW! I can't wait to see what God is up to in our lives. And I hope that you will trust Him with His plan for yours as well.