Come and see

 

 

Recently my husband told me that he's ready to downsize and move closer to where he works. I was shocked because we've lived in the same home for so long. Yes, the children are now all adults and have moved away and no, we don't need this big house any longer, but....I'm so afraid! I feel safe here and I love my house, how could I ever leave?

 

The older I get the more life seems to change! Friends come and go, I'm no longer in the workforce, I'm a grandmother, and I realize I'm getting older every day. My security level and my comfort zone often depend on where I am and what I'm doing. I like routine and I'm kind of set in my ways. I don't take as many risks as I once used to take...I'm getting to be an old fuddy duddy, I'm afraid!

 

I began to think about moving and the more I thought about it, the more afraid I became. All the what ifs started to crowd my brain...what if we move and we don't like the new house, what if we are too far away from the children, what if we get very ill and have no one close by to help us...what if...what if! As I thought and thought about it, God let me to verses in the first chapter of John. The disciples have been learning who God is and have been marveling at all He has done. John wants to make sure the disciples understand that he is not God and he points them to the true Messiah. The disciples are curious. They want to know all about Christ and they aren't ashamed to ask questions. They ask some pretty practical questions...instead of asking Jesus about how he performs miracles and things like that, they ask where he is staying! Jesus, I'm sure, understood their curiosity and replied, "come and see." So the disciples went and they saw where He was staying. They stayed and talked with him until about 4 in the afternoon. The next day, Jesus is walking and he comes across Phillip. He looks at Phillip and says, "follow me."

 

As I thought about those verses, I realized something. Yes, I am afraid of moving and all the newness that comes with that, but suddenly, I realized it's going to be okay. As long as I remember that Jesus has already gone before me and prepared the way, it will be okay. As long as I realize that in order to understand what Jesus is doing at each stage of my life, I have to be willing to walk with Him...to stay in step with Him..to follow Him.

 

Jesus never wants us to stand still in our faith. He wants us to continually grow and change and learn. He wants us to understand that He will never leave us but our part is to trust Him. As we walk along the path He leads us on, we can learn that wherever He takes us, we will be safe! He will only give us enough light for the next step on our path. He will never show us the whole plan because if He did, how would we learn to walk with Him? How would we ever learn to trust Him?

 

Is God trustworthy? Yes! Will He guide me and take me where He wants me to go? Yes! Am I willing to step out in faith and see what great things He has in store for me in the days ahead? Yes! I am willing to put my foot on that path, the dark one that I have no idea where it will take me, and trust. "Follow me," Jesus said and so...I am ready. I am not going to let fear hold me back. I can just picture myself walking with the Savior and as we walk, I'm sure He'll understand my silly questions. He'll understand my concerns and my cares. He'll walk side by side with me and look into my eyes with understanding and as we travel the road together, I won't care where I'm going as long as I'm staying in step with my Jesus. And when we've found a new home and the excitement rises, I'll be calling my friends and family and exclaiming to them, "Come and see! Come and see!" and as those words roll off my tongue, I'll remember that God took the fear of moving to teach me that no matter where I am, He's right by my side and it's going to be okay....

 

John 1:35-42 "The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter^[g])."⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”