Imagine a farmer is growing beans. The beans are growing well in the same field where the farmer has planted them for the last few years. One day God calls him to plant a new crop in a new field.

But there’s a problem.

It’s already taking all of the farmer’s financial and physical resources to grow beans, and he doesn’t feel confident about taking the risk to make a change. So, if he wants to grow the new crop that God has assigned, he will have to do two things.

Switch Focus

The first thing that the farmer will have to do is make some major adjustments. This means that he’ll have to switch his focus, his physical energies, and his financial resources to produce this new crop, and–he’ll have to leave his beans behind.

In Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby writes, “you must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.” If we refuse to make adjustments and switch focus from the old to the new, we won’t reap a harvest for Christ.

Many times in Scripture when God called someone to accomplish a task for Him, it required a switch in focus which meant major adjustments. Abraham had to leave his old life behind to move into the Promise Land. Simon and Andrew had to leave their fishing nets behind. Saul had to leave his old life of persecuting Christians to follow Christ.

Resist Fear

Imagine that the farmer says in fear, “I can’t plant and grow a new crop because it’s going to be too hard. I don’t have the money; I’ll have to buy another piece of land. There’s too much risk involved.”

When God says, “Stop what you are doing. I want you to leave that field and come and plant in this one over here,” and we allow fear to dictate our response, we may refuse to leave our “field of security” to plant in God’s new field.

Fear will make us want to cease what we are doing–or never begin something new. So we must keep our eyes firmly fixed on Him who is able to empower us to accomplish the task. Remember, what you focus on will either fuel fear or fuel enthusiasm.

Be encouraged. When God calls you from an old “field” to a new, you can move forward in confidence because you belong to Him. For this reason, you do not have the spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7) that would cause you to live a self-directed life rather than obey God’s calling. God will provide for you as you step out and make the adjustments necessary to follow Him into the unknown.

Additional Resources

The Blueprint for Life eight week study will help you discover the life you were born to live.  The Bible study contains a workbook and ten messages featuring Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, Tony Evans, John Maxwell and others. Now available for digital download.  Click here to check it out!