1790 Can’t Stay Here

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Where you are is not where you will always be … at least not in God’s plan. God’s design for your life is to be ever changing and evolving, moving toward greater purposes on a trajectory you could never design alone. You were not created to arrive to this place and just stay here.

In this new year, you are being called forward. Not backward, and not stagnant. Forward. Onward. Next step. Understand that when you refuse to move and instead choose your familiar comfort zone, that is sin. When God is calling you to what is next but you cling to where you are now, that disobedience is sin. And when you wait and plan to do it “later”, that delayed obedience is also sin.

Sometimes we cling to where we are now because it’s our happy place. But quite honestly, that’s rare. You’re not really happy, you’re just familiar with this scene. Typically, there’s a void of happiness in the places we refuse to leave. It’s a familiar misery. A familiar chaos. A familiar battle. But honey, familiar is not the calling for your future.

Yesterday, we studied the story of the son who wanted his own way and ran off and ruined his life in Luke 15. There, in the pig pens, he finally came to his senses and decided to return to his father. Can you imagine how hard that first step must have been for him?

Although he was miserable in his mess, it was his mess. He was independent. He wasn’t answering to anyone. He was free to just be. The problem is, our pursuit of freedom often lands us in some world class wrecks and it’s hard to face the truth that no one did that to us but us. We made the mess. We screwed this up. This was my choice and I can’t just undo it.

So, the son had to make a choice: Respond to the pull to humbly return home and admit his failure, or stay right where he was and avoid the dreaded journey back. His decision made all the difference in the world.

Just as yours does here.

Let’s say you’ve wandered off and created a mess in your health. You’ve been doing all the wrong things for a while now and you don’t recognize or like the girl you see in the mirror. But even more, that girl you see in the mirror is suffering. She doesn’t feel good. So, what are you going to do here?

Returning to health will require a discipline you haven’t seen in a while. In your head, that’s a whole lot of days of denying yourself and that feels quite overwhelming. So, you could just stay here. You could remain in your un-health. You could make friends with your pain and downplay the problems this really causes.

Or, you could listen to that still small voice within that says, “Please do better for me.” Your body is the vessel that carries your soul, and honey, if you’re not taking care of the vessel, the soul suffers too. You could start the return to health with the very first step. You could go buy some healthy food (and throw away the junk). You could take yourself for a walk. You could trade your morning soda or sugary coffee for a better choice.

Your decision makes all the difference in the world.

Why am I talking about health in a devotional? Because honey, your health has been under attack for a long time. The enemy of your soul knows if he can keep you stuck in not feeling good and not loving yourself, then you aren’t much of a threat at all. But if you chose to leave this pig-pen living behind and started your journey back to what the Father has for you … ohhhhhh, the devil is shaking in his boots!

So, where’s your mess? Maybe it’s not your health, maybe it’s a relationship. Maybe it’s your priorities. Maybe it’s your attitude or your perspective. There’s a choice to make now. Stay here in the familiar mess or decide to start the journey back to what God has for you.

On Monday’s episode #1787 “Complain and Remain”, we studied the Israelites who got stuck wandering in the desert for 40 years. Why did they get stuck? They complained. They complained about everything and finally God’s gracious patience ran out and he said, “Okay, complain and you will remain.” An entire generation died in that wilderness without ever stepping into the land God had promised them. What a shame.

So, girl … what have you been forfeiting? God has promises for you. He has a good future planned for you. He has breakthroughs aligned and blessings prepared. But when you refuse to move forward, you forfeit.

The moment came for the Israelites when they were fearful of the Canaanites and didn’t proceed when God had promised them victory. And that was the last straw.

Really, did you know there’s a last straw? There’s a last chance. A final opportunity. A closing invitation. And if you deny it, then you miss it. It’s gone.

Honey, if you don’t make the choice to make some changes now, there may not be another chance. Don’t let that be you. (You feel that prompting in your Spirit right now that is pointing you to a very specific area of your life you’ve been neglecting and avoiding … yeah, take note of that. That’s precisely what God wants to talk to you about today. The invitation is here for you to change that.)

The Israelites let fear run through their camp and that fear halted their forward motion. They refused to move. And finally, God responded. Numbers 14:30, “You will not enter and occupy the land I swore to give you. The only exceptions will be Caleb and Joshua.”

Who were Caleb and Joshua? Back up 1 chapter and you will find they were the two who truly believed God’s promises. They were the two who wanted to move forward in faith. And they were the only two to survive the wandering years in the desert and live to see the Promised Land.

But for everyone else, it was their last chance and they missed it.

Oh my sister, what if this is your last chance? What if this year is the invitation to change some things, but the invitation will not be there again next year. At some point it truly is too late, but God is saying to you at this moment, “My girl, it’s not too late right now!”

Whatever you’re allowing to hold you back has become your sin.

Complaining becomes a sin.
Wallowing becomes a sin.
Excuses become a sin.
Pity becomes a sin.
Delaying becomes a sin.
Blaming becomes a sin.

If you don’t go when God says go, later will be too late.

Where have you been saying “later”? Where have you been delaying and hesitating? Where have you been making excuses as things only get worse? My friend, you are being called forward now.

Start the journey. One step at a time. You know where that step will take you? It will take you into something new, something better than you could have ever asked or imagined.

The prodigal son turned and took the first step to his journey home. What he never expect was for his father to run to him and receive him in celebration. Oh, thank God he didn’t waste another day in that pig pen!

There’s an invitation here for you today. An invitation to turn and move toward the promises of God and the fullness of the life he is offering. To accept it, you will have to leave some things behind. Here’s what I know for sure … it will be worth it. The Father will meet you on the way!

Philippians 3:14, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

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