Day 186: Turn Over a New Leaf

Deuteronomy 2:2-3

“Then at last the Lord said to me, ‘You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north.

We’ve talked a lot about staying put, and being patient and waiting on God before we move. But what about when it’s time to move what about when we’ve been in one place too long? When we’ve gotten comfortable and God is like, okay it’s time to go you gotta move on. I believe that this is what God is telling the Israelites, He’s like “You’ve been here long enough wandering around, it’s time to go you have to keep it moving.”

I’ve said this time and time again and I’ll say it once more. At this point in our lives, in our twenties, we are changing so much. It’s like we are constantly changing, constantly getting new revelations about ourselves and life, and making decisions. Old chapters are closing and new ones are opening and it’s scary. I would be lying if I told you it was all a breeze. Change is amazing, I am a fan of it, but that does not mean that it doesn’t scare the crap out of me, because it does.

This year has been full of change for me, recently the biggest thing I’ve done was decide to turn over a new leaf and close a chapter of my life to start a new one. I decided that I could not sit in the same spot anymore, this part of my life was done, I couldn’t sit in the same situation, I had to face my past and my fears. I had to decide to let go of a lot of things, and rather than allowing my past to continue to hurt me, let it inspire me. I made big decisions as to where I would live when I graduate, what I would do to survive on my own. The main reason this was done was because I felt God pushing me, telling me it’s time. That I have to step out on faith like I never have before and trust Him. One of my favorite quotes is from Viola Davis, and she says,

“Just jump afraid. Dare to do it, and maybe you land. Maybe it’ll be perfect.”

One of the biggest things stopping us from moving forward is uncertainty. If you are like me, you like to have a plan, security, you have to know what’s going to happen. You don’t like going into places blindly. I had to let go of that, because everything will not go as planned even if I do think I know what’s going to happen. I’ve learned to substitute uncertainty for faith. Meaning I might not know what’s going to happen but I trust in God’s plan. Sometimes we just have to leap, and trust God and trust me, the net will appear. God’s not going to tell you to jump and not catch you. He’s not going to tell you to move if He doesn’t know where you’re going.

What I want you to get out of today is, learn to close a chapter when it’s done. Don’t drag it out, I know starting new chapters and new things in your life can be scary, but it’s just as rewarding, it’s just as inspiring. It feels good to close a chapter and start a new one, It feels amazing because you know that God has a plan for you. You are trusting in that plan and depending solely on Him. This is kind of like finding our independence. We have to take leaps for ourselves. Parts of our journey will have to be walked alone and I don’t mean that in a bad way. What I mean is that we will get to a point where we start to make decisions and moves for ourselves. We don’t base our living on anyone else, or pleasing anyone but God. I’m going through that right now. We decide that we have to do this whatever ‘this’ may be, for ourselves, even if it means our friends and family don’t understand. We can’t let that stop us, nothing will stop God’s plan anyway. But this chapter is for us. It’s just something we have to do, and in the end we will be better for it.

God knows what He’s doing, just believe and trust in Him. He’s right there, He’s got you.

Reflection

1. Is there a chapter in your life that needs to be closed? Are you dragging it on?
2. Do you feel like you’ve been in the same place too long?
3. Don’t feel like it’s time to turn a new leaf?
4. What’s stopping you from moving forward?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about moving forward in your life and find comfort in knowing that He has a plan for you. He’s knows it’s scary but you just have to trust Him and move.

I love you, Have an amazing day. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 187!