Trust God and Cultivate Faithfulness

Moving. What comes to mind when you think of moving to an entirely new area? Some have experienced it firsthand. Others can imagine the wave of emotions figuring out how to best close one chapter of life only to start a new chapter simultaneously. You might consider both the excitement and endless possibilities of a fresh start as if you were pushing a reset button. For others, you might feel the tension as endless questions race through your mind wondering, “What will friendships look like? Will this new area feel like home? How is work going to look? Will I actually enjoy living here? Am I making the right decision?” Either way, change is happening, and life is about to look a lot different than you knew it to be. No matter how prepared you could be, you really have no idea how it will all unfold.

Well, welcome to our lives! In fact, my wife Kristi and I packed up our lives and drove over 450 miles north this past month to call Stamford, CT our new home as we joined the Vox Church family. We left Virginia, a place we called home for nearly nine years. A place where we first met and launched our marriage, a place where we forged numerous friendships that became like family, a place where we focused our energy toward pointing others to Jesus, a place where our hearts were knit into a local church plant, a place where we worked tirelessly to advance our education through completing various degrees, a place where we jumped into our careers, and a place where we first realized we would be parents as we wait for the arrival of our baby girl. The list could go on and on as countless memories flood our minds while looking back at these nine years.

Now it’s time to start over and take a giant step into the unknown. New land. New city. New people. New job. It’s time to move forward after we scrambled to pack boxes while figuring out what to sell and what to take with us. In reality, we don’t know what will happen next. There’s something about growing older and recognizing the difference between what we truly can and cannot control. But if we were honest with ourselves, none of us really know what tomorrow or the next several years will hold.

So, how exactly do we move forward today? We have been asking ourselves this over and over again. Here it is. God brought us to Psalm 37:3 and dropped this message into our hearts. David encourages us to, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” Did you catch it? Today, we each have a choice. A decision that we must carefully make no matter the circumstances, blessings, difficulties, or uncertainties that we are facing. Right now, the choice is simply: Will I trust God and cultivate faithfulness wherever I am?

God’s primary work for me in life is to trust and follow Jesus. We are created to both seek and obey God today. This we can control. This we must commit ourselves to. This we cannot miss. This we will give our attention. This is what we were made for. And here’s the incredible news. We don’t have to do this by ourselves! I believe God is at work in each of us this very moment because He is deeply committed to producing a heart in us that trusts Jesus and does good no matter what is going on around us. God delights in equipping us with His strength, grace, and presence. He wants to produce in us this trust and faithfulness. It’s ours to receive!

We may not know where the nearest grocery store with the best deals is located or how to travel more than two minutes without pulling up Google Maps to show us the way. We may not know where to find a trusted mechanic or just how cold New England winters can be. No matter where we find ourselves today, whether in familiar or unfamiliar lands we are called to walk by faith, trusting and obeying God each step of the journey. We are going to surrender our lives to Jesus as we seek first His kingdom. We are going to love God and others. This is what we are going to do by the grace of God. This is success.

Wherever you are today, pray and ask yourself, “What areas in my life is God asking me to trust Him and cultivate faithfulness?”