This morning I thought about moving when I read my daily reading in My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. The title was "Have you ever been alone with God?", and Chambers starts out by saying, "When God gets us alone by affliction, heartbreak, or temptation, by disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted affection, by a broken friendship, or by a new friendship--when he gets us absolutely alone, and we are dumbfounded, and cannot ask one question, then He begins to expound. . . . There are whole tracts of stubbornness and ignorance to be revealed by the Holy Spirit in each one of us, and it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone." When you are in a routine, and all is comfortable, there can be a real complacency in your spiritual life. But when you move and are all alone, with no familiar patterns to hide in, then God can really move, focusing your thoughts on Him, and forcing you to see things in yourself that can be hidden in the daily busyness of routine. The first couple of months (years?!) after a move are always very hard and stressful, but I always see more things about myself that are unpleasant and need dealing with, and I am forced to rely on the Lord to fill me up, instead of others or activities. Thinking about Dan and Melinda's upcoming move already had me reflecting on the spiritual benefits of moving, and this devotional made me think even more.
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