Tent Pegs

We raised our kids in Illinois. After years of apartments, we finally bought a home. We both had jobs, we had a church home, our kids had friends and school. The relationship dynamics in our family were a trainwreck on fire, but there we were, firmly planted.

Then my husband lost his job. He worked off and on, trying to find a steady job in an unsteady job market.

Then my son left for college in Texas. A couple of years later his sister joined him in Texas and my nest was empty and that was that.

In 2008 the housing market crashed with a bang.

Then, I suddenly lost my job that I had been at for 8 years, due to a missed deadline. Total fluke. Total confusion as to why I would be let go.

Now we had no income except unemployment, and a mortgage that was now upside down, meaning we owed more than we could have gotten for the house if we sold it, because of the crash.

Tent pegs. This was the picture God was giving me. A large tent held in place by firmly planted tent pegs, and now, one by one, those pegs were snapping out of the ground. Why? Because it was time for us to move and we weren’t going to move as long as the things we trusted in were holding our tent up.

God had begun to plant the seed that He was calling us to move, but we kept brushing it off. We had jobs, a home, deep roots right where we were, so it would be foolish to just pack up and move. We weren’t young and carefree anymore. We had stuff.

So one by one, the tent pegs snapped. And then one day we had packed what we hadn’t sold off into a u-haul truck and set out for Texas. No jobs, no community, just faith that God was calling us there and would take care of us.

This July will be 13 years since the day we pulled into Waco, and so much has happened since then. Kids married, grandkids have come, kids have moved away, we’ve finally bought another home, and here we are. And I find myself asking God, what are our tent pegs now, in this season of our lives, and are they keeping us from what You have for us?

Tent pegs. They hold the tent in place, but more significantly, they are what we trust to hold the tent in place.

They become our reasons, then our excuses, for staying in a place, even a place that has become unhealthy or barren. Because change is hard and scary and we’re a cautious, even nervous, people.

A house. A job. Friends. Family. A church. Provision. A place in the community. A ministry. Deeply rooted tent pegs. Things we trust in to keep our world spinning in familiar directions at a familiar pace. Things we can’t imagine leaving because they offer us comfort, purpose, belonging, and safety.

Tent pegs are good, until they become our excuse to stay when God may be calling us to go.

So what are your tent pegs? What holds you here, wherever here is? What would your reasons be for not dropping your nets, or selling all you have and giving it to the poor, or getting in the boat? Leaving that job, that town, that state, or that church? I’m not talking about irresponsibly leaving on a whim. We’re all grownups here and we know that’s not how it works. I’m talking about hearing or sensing the call of God to pull up stakes and follow Him into something new, even if it’s scary. Even if we can’t figure out how it would work. Even if we don’t understand it, and can’t control it. Gasp.

He sends us. Leads us to new places to work, to minister, to live and to reflect His image. The question is would we go? Or would we assume that it wasn’t God calling us because why would He take us from this place where we have invested and worked and ministered? Why would He take us from our land of provision, ministry, community, and maybe even family? Why would He call us into something, and then call us out of it?

Maybe…

– Because He has plans we know nothing of, sees what we can’t possibly see and knows what we can’t possibly know.

– Because we gave our life to Him and called Him Lord and said we would follow Him.

– Because He has no need to be concerned that we won’t find another job or a place to live or any other thing we need. He knows what He can do, and He asks us to trust what He can do.

What are your tent pegs? Are they keeping you from following God to the next place?