“ Jesus had his disciples and the crowd gather around him. And he said to them:
“If you truly want to follow me, you should at once completely disown your own life.
And you must be willing to share my cross and experience it as your own,
as you continually surrender to my ways”
(Mark 8:34 TPT)
Have you ever noticed that you can generally find people in the same area of church, if not the same seats, week after week? I was thinking about this concept of displacement as it applies to life. Sometimes we just feel displaced by minor things – like the new self checks in the grocery store that means there are few lines available for you to find a Real Person for help. But sometimes we get displaced by bigger things – a cross country move, a marriage, a kid problem, caring for a parent. And sometimes God intentionally “displaces” us like he did with Abram:
The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.” (Gen. 12:1 NLT)
“To the land that I will show you” is a little vague to my type-A-ness. I’d like more information, please: Where are we going? When will we get there? How will we travel? What do I pack? Who will be there? While this verse answers pieces of these questions, it certainly left Abram with a choice – do I listen to God? do I trust God enough to do this? do I allow God to “displace” me? OR do I decide I’m crazy, hearing voices, or just be downright stubborn and say NO WAY?
We know that Abram packed, left, went, and was blessed. He stepped out in faith – allowed himself to be displaced from all he knew – and God heaped many, many blessings upon him. His story is not simple but his faith in God is evident.
My prayer is that we would be people willing to be displaced…willing to say “yes” when God calls us to go to places he “will show us”….willing to be still and quiet so we can hear God’s voice…able to recognize the gentle leading of a God who loves us and challenges us sometimes to be displaced…
Lord God,
Thank you for your love and grace that have called us into relationship with you. Thank you for Holy Spirit’s direction and urge within us, wooing us, calling us, leading us, and guiding us. Thank you that when you call us to a place we feel displaced, it is for your Kingdom purposes and you will meet us there. Help us to give our lives into your hands, once again, and allow you to displace us to use as necessary. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.