The beginning of the new school year brought back a memory for me of my oldest son starting a new school.  It wasn’t the beginning of the school year, it was actually towards the end, but it was a new school to him because we had just moved to Florida from New York.

I remember sitting in the school administration office with him waiting for his class assignment. He sat so still, trying to be brave but I noticed him chewing away at the inside of his cheek, betraying his nervousness.  It was killing me!  I wanted to scoop him up in my arms and assure him that it was going to be okay and that I wouldn’t sign him up to do something that wasn’t good for him.  But he was in 1st grade and already too old for overtly public displays of affection from his mother! I knew that he was a smart boy and that he would make friends easily and in no time at all would feel right at home. He did not share my confidence.

Have you ever felt like God signed you up for something that makes you chew your cheek, or bite your nails, or do whatever it is you do when you get nervous?  Have you ever felt that pang of anxiety when stepping out into a new venture?  The other side of familiar is frightening, a little nerve-wracking at best. But if God is leading you there, (that’s a BIG “if” by the way so you want to be sure about that before you start) you can rest assured that you are prepared and that ultimately it will be for your good.

This morning I was reading Deuteronomy 8 – a great chapter on this topic!! God often signs us up for things that test us and humble us but it is to bring us to a place of tremendous blessing if we persevere and follow as He leads. There is way too much good stuff here to write in one blog so I encourage you to take time to read it if you can.

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. ~Deuteronomy 8:7-9

I want to go there, don’t you?