From One Place to Another

A few years ago, I was the manager of a retail clothing store. I had been with that company for three years when with only two weeks notice, my district manager informed me that my store would be closing. She expected me to be upset. I smiled and told her, “When one door closes, God opens another door.” Little did I know, within another three months, my husband and I would completely relocate to Charlotte, NC and start over. Sometimes we get comfortable with where we are at that time. I think God sometimes uses situations like what happened to me to push us to the next level.

In Acts 8:1-4, Stephen had just been killed. During this time, believers were being persecuted by Saul. So they ran and were scattered around the region. Acts 8:4 says that they went everywhere preaching the word. I don’t know if these people were complacent with where they were, but, because they had to leave Jerusalem the Word of God was preached in other places. Many people received Christ because of this and many lives were changed. Had these people not ran they may have been put in prison or lost their lives. Those that heard and believed on God, may not have heard the gospel at all. These people were pushed out of their home town to be used by God and preach to others.

Later on, in Acts 11:19-26, some of those that had left Jerusalem, were in Antioch preaching the Gospel. Verse 21 says “And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.” When God pushes us to another level, He never leaves us out to dry or deal with it on our own. Sometimes when we are going through change, it can be intimidating. It may seem hard or take a while to adjust. But God never leaves us. He is right there with His hand on us helping us the whole way. Something else good came out Antioch too. History was being made. Verse 26 says that the disciples were first called Christians.

When baby birds have to learn to fly, the mother bird often pushes them from the nest. It seems like a cruel thing to do considering birds build their nests high in the trees. But this push is necessary for the baby birds to learn to become independent. Some animals stop feeding their young so the the young can learn to feed themselves. Sometimes, it is necessary for God to push us out of our comfort zone so that we can go to the next level.

A few months before my store had closed, I had been promoted to store manager. This gave me valuable work experienced that made it easy to find another job when we moved. God was working the situation out before I even knew something was going to happen. When we depend solely on God, we will never go wrong. Since the move, God has blessed our family in so many ways, this post would be pages long if I wrote them all down.

When God begins to push you out of your comfort zone, don’t be afraid. Know that He is not going to leave you high and dry.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

~Romans 8:28