12 Jun 2013

Greener Pastures?

Initial Thoughts on Migration

I would love to live somewhere else: somewhere cooler, with vast lands, a more child-friendly educational system, less of a city.

 
so this is WHY they crossed the road -- greener pastures !?!
Many of us harbor such desires.

What does God think of us moving to ‘greener pastures’?

Most people who start planning usually go through these steps:
Research feasibility
Plan/apply
Go if doors open

This seem a pretty reasonable approach once you can sever the pangs of guilt for leaving the motherland, kith and kin behind.

I am inclined to think that God is actually alright with us living anywhere in His great world. He loves his children to be free!

But the greatest freedom we have is the freedom to trust.

We have been freed from the grip of fear, the tyranny of the urgent, the choke-chains of marching to a common whip.

This freedom is tasted, renewed and relished only out of a reinstated relationship with our Maker.

In fact,  if in the end, having a growing, vital relationship with God that oozes life is what it’s all about; most of the difficulties we have are not about the landscape; but about our soulscape ! 

Why would we find it easier to trust God just because we changed our address?

Living out of this freedom, perhaps God wants us to add in a few more steps to our decision-making process:

Check heart for areas of struggle to trust
Check heart for areas of ungodly expectations
Ready heart to yield and rest
See if the need to move still surfaces
Ask for a sense of direction & purpose

So we turn our admission of loss, frustration and lack into a fresh adventure of trust! 

I highly suspect that God simply loves this: He being who He is, will lead, provide and prove Himself true. But alas, we being who we are, prefer He quickly endorses our plans! 


The former way works better always though, doesn't it?


note: this post is prompted by a common conversation thread among my peers; we with the struggling with-school-going kids.

2 comments:

  1. I don't have school-going kids yet, but I can relate to this already. The stress/ the anxieties, mostly unnecessary and burdensome, and not from God...We do harbour dreams of returning to the place where I went to University, but yes like you said, when there are open doors and opportunities, and when there's peace in our hearts, maybe then it's the right time.

    Thanks for sharing this!

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  2. Jen, love what you wrote.. I wish more will read your thoughts on this. Yes, it's all about our Soulscapes!!

    Love
    Debbs

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