Stop or Go?
Making hard choices.
I think we all played “red light, green light” as kids.
At some point in life we may have to make an important decision. Be it a house, job, or relationship, like the 1980’s song from The Clash, you may ask; “Should I stay or should I go?
Unfortunately, sometimes the right path isn’t always clear. Other times the right path is clear, but we are reluctant to walk it.
In the case of the latter, ironically, it’s often our own fear that keeps from walking in a new direction.
You may have the most toxic job in the world, be in a bad relationship, or some other circumstance.
Often times the fear is leaving is greater than the fear of staying.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you may be in a situation where fear has made you want to bail, when you should stay.
You may think the grass is greener on the other side, and not see the what good lies ahead where you are.
You might be thinking right now…so how do I know what to do?
I admit it is not easy, the correct answer is of course is to listen to the Lord for direction.
As simple as it sounds, we may not always hear him clearly.
We do however see examples of both example of staying and leaving in scripture.
In Genesis 12:1-2 “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. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.
In the scripture above God said “Go, and I will bless you.”
On the other end, after the Babylonian empire seized Judah and Jerusalem, God told the people of Judah “stay and I will bless you.”
Except the people of Judah feared living under the Babylonians and their king.
They told the prophet Jeremiah “pray that the LORD your God will show us what to do and where to go.” Jeremiah 42:8 NLT
The Lord responded:
“If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you…
Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’
Jeremiah 42:10-12 NIV
But then Lord then issued a stern warning in verses 13-16:
“But if you refuse to obey the LORD your God, and if you say, ‘We will not stay here; instead, we will go to Egypt where we will be free from war, the call to arms, and hunger,’ then hear the LORD’s message to the remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and live there, the very war and famine you fear will catch up to you, and you will die there.
And in typical Israelites fashion, they didn’t listen of course.
The takeaway here is that sometimes God tells us to stay and other times to go. But we can’t just rely on our own judgment. Everything in the natural might point way, when God wants us to go the other way.
Emotions and our flesh can lie and deceive us. That’s why prayer is so important.
I previously wrote a devotional called “P.R.A.Y” in which I explained “prayer required always yielding.”
Ultimately everything we do and petition the Lord requires yielding then listening to his direction. Of course, we don’t always audibly hear God, but in yielding we aren’t immediately succumbing and acting on our emotions either.
And it is in that yielding that something the answer comes…
Perhaps in phone call, a deal fallen through, or even the silence of an unanswered prayer.