For something good to come into our lives, we need to be willing to let something else go

How easy is it for you to embrace change? Have you ever felt paralyzed by the fear of the unknown? Easier for some than for others, change can be challenging and many will choose to avoid it altogether.

For example, moving to a new country is not only bureaucratically burdensome and costly but also means leaving something dear behind. Very rarely we have nothing to lose and when we have nothing to lose, change is probably not a choice anymore.

But what can we learn from the Bible about being moved out of our comfort zone?

Changing requires sacrifice

When God told Abraham to leave his hometown behind to live in Canaan, he did not think twice. All his comfort, his culture, his family was to be left behind - because God needed to set him apart, to move him out of his comfort zone to develop him and protect him from the influence of the nations. It would not be another 25 years before God’s promise was delivered through Isaac, yet in the meantime, Abraham obeyed the calling.

Genesis 12:1-4: The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your land, your family, and your father’s household for the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation and will bless you. I will make your name respected, and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, those who curse you I will curse; all the families of the earth will be blessed because of you.”

Abram left just as the Lord told him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. 

Now imagine the scene with Messiah's apostles when Yahusha (Jesus) called them? they were working when Yahusha told them ‘Come, follow me’ and they dropped all they had and all they were doing on the spot. One disciple thought twice when he was called, ‘but I need to bury my father first’. Do we get a second chance at an opportunity of this magnitude?

Matthew 4:18-22: As Jesus walked alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, because they were fishermen.  “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.”  Right away, they left their nets and followed him.  Continuing on, he saw another set of brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father repairing their nets. Jesus called them and  immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

This is not a suggestion to be irresponsible, especially for those who have others under their responsibility, this is a reminder that we cannot have it all at once. We cannot hold on to that job we like until we make sure that the other job will be successful, we cannot live a carefree life without a child and still experience the abundant love of parenting, we cannot enjoy all the benefits of a plural family and hold on to the marriage ‘as it was’. Change requires something to die, so that something else can grow in its place.

God does not promise assurance, but He opens the necessary doors

I used to have this saying written on my agenda ‘Life doesn’t give you assurance, it gives you opportunities’. Today I see it quite differently and more recently with a mentor as I was in the process of changing my career, she challenged me with the following thought: ‘Has life ever let you down before? Are you not equipped with the intelligence to figure things out? Why do you need so many safety nets?’ Funny how the world points it all to an abstract idea of ‘life’ without connecting it to the life giver, the Messiah – but I digress. Let me mix these two ideas and come up with something better:

When has the Father let you down? He has equipped you with intelligence to figure things out and He will open the doors that need to be opened to make things happen when aligned to His will, but you still have to go through the doors yourself. God will not give you assurance before you take that leap of faith - he will ask you to TRUST him.

While some decisions are easier (getting married with a good spouse, going to a better job…) there will still be something that we need to sacrifice. Very few good things will come your way without sacrifice. The fruit will confirm that our decision was right and what we are pursuing is in line with God’s will for us. But how do we know?

God provides when we submit to His will and his Torah

Let us take a step back here. If we decide to rebel against the Father’s will, the fruits (consequences) will tell. Ask Jonah how his decision to run away from his calling went!

Our rebellious nature must be checked constantly through prayer, otherwise we may force our personal will on what the Most High is telling you in your gut ‘go’ or ‘don’t go’ or ‘not now’.

There are several ways to let God speak when we are in doubt - prayer, fasting and even asking for confirmation through signs like Abraham’s servant when he was looking for a bride for his master’s son:

Genesis 24:12-14 Lord, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham.  See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water. This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’—let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife. This is how I will know that you have shown unfailing love to my master.”

Casting lots after prayer can also give the Father the chance to show his will for your life. We just need to be careful not to cast lots until it gives the desired result – again, feel your gut, our souls are connected to the Father through what some call ‘intuition’, but it is just something we feel in our guts, for the lack of a better term.

But let us not forget: Thy will be done, for in thy will and Torah I shall prosper

His path is always prosperous, even if we do not see it immediately. But our heavenly Father also requires obedience to his Torah so we can fully enjoy his blessings.

Psalm 1:1-3 – Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree

Planted by the [c]rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

How about you? What are you willing to let go to make place for something better?