1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.

I continued today with the new study I am doing, A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place. Today, we were introduced to Abram, specifically how God told him to leave everything he knew and set out for parts unknown.

Have you ever moved to a new place before? I have, several times actually, and it was very difficult. I had no friends, no family. I was in an unfamiliar place. I didn’t know my way around.

One such instance was when my husband and I moved from Alpharetta, Georgia, to Plantation, Florida. We are both originally from North Carolina. I lived in NC my entire life until my husband and I moved to GA the year after we got married because there was no work for him where we lived. The move to GA was very hard for me because I was so far away from everything and everyone I had ever known, but the move to FL was even harder.

We had been in GA for about two years. I had learned my way around, found a church home, made a few friends and had mostly settled in. Then my husband’s company began going through some changes. A merger took place, and my husband began receiving calls about possible jobs elsewhere. Ultimately, he would receive two job offers, one in Plantation, FL, and one in Wilmington, NC. We lived in Wilmington before moving to GA, and it was only about an hour away from my family.

Richard asked me what I thought we should do. I took time to pray about it. My flesh was screaming, “Move back to Wilmington! Go back to who and what you know!” I asked God what His will was even though I was afraid of the answer. He gave me Proverbs 31:10-31.

In this particular instance, I felt God was telling me that He wanted me to support Richard in whatever decision he felt was best. So, with fear and trembling, I asked Richard which job he thought he should take. You can imagine my dismay when he said he thought it should be the job in FL. His reasoning for this was sound. I knew he was right, even though I felt my heart would shatter into a million pieces. So off to Florida we went.

On the surface, it would appear to have been an absolutely horrendous experience, and actually, it was. But on a deeper level, it couldn’t have been sweeter.

I found myself once again in an unfamiliar place with no family and no friends. I didn’t work, so I didn’t even have the option of meeting people that way. I did try finding a church, but that didn’t go so well either. However, God put a small Christian bookstore around the corner from the apartment where we lived. I went there and wandered around nearly every day. As a matter of fact, the manager finally asked me if I would like a job working there! I didn’t take it, and a good thing, too, because we only lived there for three months.

Everything about the location and even Richard’s job turned out to be disastrous! I can’t even tell you how awful it was.

But I found God in the midst of that. I walked so closely with Him during that three months. He was my strength and my shield. I’m not going to tell you I walked around with a smile on my face all the time..far from it, but God held me up.

I still look back on that time and remember how strongly I experienced the fullness of His presence. I didn’t just know that He was there. His presence was palpable.

Ultimately, the move to Florida brought us back to North Carolina. But I had to step out in faith and trust Him first. I had to leave everything and everyone I knew and venture to the place He showed me.

We may have made it back to North Carolina eventually. I don’t know. But I am thankful for the time that I had in Florida to experience God Almighty the way that I did. It was awesome, and so is He.

Is He calling you out of your comfort zone? Have you answered? And if so, what was your answer?