Transient Lifestyle

Transient Lifestyle

Sarai

Read: Genesis 12:1-6

Melinda hung up the phone and dropped her head in her hands. Another move—when they had just settled into the neighborhood, and the kids were doing so well in school. She had known that life with a military husband would mean occasional transfers, but twelve moves in sixteen years of marriage? As their family and possessions had grown, each relocation had become a little more difficult. Melinda felt drained just thinking about the days ahead.

Many women in the Bible had transient lifestyles. Because of God’s call, Sarai had to leave her home, her relatives, and her country. Sarai didn’t even know where they were going—God simply instructed the couple to leave and go to the land that he would show to Abram. Her heart surely ached as she left all that was familiar to join her husband on this journey. As Sarai adapted to a seminomadic lifestyle, we can imagine that her thoughts often returned to the city life she had always known.

It’s never easy to leave the security of what is familiar and comfortable. Even if we’re excited about a move, a new job, or a change in lifestyle, the uncertainty of what lies ahead can fill us with doubt and fear. How comforting it is to know that wherever our life journey takes us, God is right there with us. Even more, he has already gone ahead of us and made arrangements for the changes to be used for our good, however painful they may seem at the time. Abram and Sarai’s obedience to God’s call brought blessings to them and to the rest of the world. When God calls us to leave something behind, we can expect to find blessings ahead.

“I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD.

Jeremiah 29:11