Love Where You Live By Shauna PilgreenSample

Day Five

“Yes, God.”

Scripture: Hebrews 11:1

Whenever we are called to leave the familiar for the unknown, our faith is tested. Faith is the heart response. Obedience is the physical response. Faith says, “Yes, God.” Obedience is one foot, then another. We follow not because of where He’s leading or who else will be there or what we can expect, but because it’s God and He alone is worth following. 

Some days all we have is our calling. Our outlook will get foggy. Our hearts will grow heavy. People will let us down. Circumstances will change. Knowing God has called us to this place will make all the difference in those moments.

To clarify the calling, let’s ask the right questions:

• Is God first?

• Do I love Him more than work, culture, success, and location?

• Is where I live about more than what I can get out of it?

• If He is my hope, will I share Him? 

If we cannot answer yes to these questions, then when the physical location stops doing it for us, we will bail. 

Our calling God is a sending God, from Abraham forward. God sent the Israelites as exiles into Babylon. They didn’t haphazardly end up there. We don’t feel sorry for Abraham but rather learn from his calling. When we see ourselves as sent, when we are called, it’s a joy. An absolute joy! 

If we see the place where we live as a “stop along the way,” we will be waiting for the bus to come by, and on hard days we will hop on it. Instead, put things up on the walls. Break down those cardboard boxes for someone else to use. Embrace the reality that you are a citizen of this physical place. 

Keep in mind we will be “strangers in a foreign land” this side of heaven because we are ultimately citizens of God’s kingdom. Opportunities will arise, and we’ll want to run away from the craziness of this place, but instead let’s run toward the calling of living here. The nation was different because Abraham said yes to the calling and made Canaan his home. Our places can be different because we say yes to the call God has for us to live sent here. 

How has the place you live now changed because you live there? In what ways would you like to see it change more?