I have found myself in this place time and time again throughout life. Where I feel (that word right there will get you in trouble most of the time) that it's time to move on but something is just not quite clicking. It's like I know there is something out there but it's accompanied by this feeling of unrest. I have this sense that there is something more to be had or to be done...something out there that I should be pursuing but I'm not quite sure what. Other times I have known exactly where I wanted to go or at least where I believed I should be going but something was stopping me from making the move. The doors were just not opening as I had hoped. And so many, many times I have found myself asking this question, "Should I stay or should I go?"
Last night I was reading Genesis 26. The chapter opens up with Isaac getting ready to move to Egypt. The land he was living in was experiencing a famine and history tells us that at the same time Egypt was prospering with plenty of water flowing from the Nile and no signs of famine. I probably would have been anxious to move there too if I was him! Feast or famine? No brainer right? Sometimes that place you are just itching to move to looks SO much better than where you are right now. But here is what God spoke to him and I knew He was whispering it to me last night. He said, "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while and I will be with you and will bless you." God knew that eventually it would be time for Isaac to move on and that there was great blessing in store for him but it was not time yet.
So the question becomes what do we do in the meantime? We are not being released to move on so what do we do? I know what I do a lot of the time. I pout. I do the bare minimum where I am. I stay but I'm not happy about it. I resist putting down roots of any kind because in my mind my bags are already packed. But that's not what Isaac did. And by the way - in verse 8 it tells us that he was there for a LONG time!
Here's what Isaac did.
Maybe this is where the expression "bloom where you're planted" comes from.
He planted crops and in that same year reaped a HUNDREDFOLD. God blessed him for listening and not pushing forward before it was time. The story goes on to say that he became very rich and his wealth continued to grow until he was very wealthy! Pretty good stuff.
As I read this passage last night God really spoke to me personally but this morning as I was praying I just felt that this was a word for someone else too.
Is there somewhere you'd rather be but God is telling you to stay in the land that you're in for a while? Be encouraged today that He is with you and He WILL bless you! That's one of the things I love most about Him ~ He is faithful to deliver on His promises.
Feel free to leave a comment...it would encourage me to know that I am not the only one that thinks the grass is greener on the other side at times ;)
