As you think about the vision you have for your life, I’m guessing there’s a destination you would love to arrive at. You might even say you hear it calling your name. You imagine it being glorious. You can almost taste it. And yet you know that if you’re ever going to get there, you will have to leave here.

While we dream of what could be, we’re just so familiar with what is already. We find so much comfort in the people, things, and places that are familiar to us. Unfortunately, familiarity can be one of the things that holds us back the most. It can keep us from moving forward, even when we know it’s time for a new chapter in our story.

To step into what God has for you, you will often need to walk away from something that’s become familiar to you.

I’m calling this message, “You Can Choose Here or There”. There’s something in each of us that wants to be able to grasp the amazing future that could be ours while still being able to hang on to all the things that have been part of our lives for a long time. I love how the writer of Hebrews tells us what, how, and why Abraham was able to step into the future God was calling him into.

Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Sometimes God calls us to leave one thing before he tells us exactly what’s coming next. This was the case for Abraham. It’s hard enough for us to leave the familiar when we know what’s ahead. How could he leave when he didn’t even know where he was going? I think he was able to do this because he became convinced of something we must become convinced of: Knowing “who” is even more important than knowing “what.” Because Abraham was looking forward, he was able to walk away from what was behind him.

I feel like many of us are unable to walk into what’s ahead of us because we’re so focused on what’s behind us. There’s nothing wrong with looking back over where we’ve been in life and reflecting on that. Looking back can give us amazing reminders of God’s power, presence, faithfulness, and provision. And looking back in this way can provide the fuel we need to trust God for what’s next. But there’s another thing that looking back can lead to. It can cause us to long to go back to where we were. We can long for a previous season or a previous job or a previous place we called home. This kind of looking back causes us to crave familiarity as though that must be what’s best for us.

It seems counterproductive to ask God to bless where we are if he has already told us to leave that place.

Abraham could choose to build a life for himself or step into what God wanted to build through his life. You have the exact same choice. I know leaving the familiar can be challenging. But before you cling to what’s so familiar, let me encourage you to let go of what has been so you can live into what could be. We are going to have to walk away from one thing or another.

Do you want to walk away from what has been in the past or from what could be in the future?

This isn’t just Abraham’s story. This was the case for all of our favorite people in the Scriptures. Moses had to leave the familiarity of shepherding before he could ever go to Pharaoh and free the nation of Israel. Nehemiah had to leave the familiarity of his job as cupbearer to the king before he could go back and rebuild Jerusalem. Esther had to be willing to leave the mindset that she was just in the palace to be the queen if she was ever going to step up and save her people. Listen in on what those first disciples had to do if they were going to go an adventure of following Jesus:

Luke 5:11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

This is the normal pattern for all of us who want to move toward the story God is wanting to write with our lives.

What is familiar to you that you can’t even imagine having to walk away from?

Maybe you can’t imagine walking away from your job or at least the industry you’ve been working in for a number of years. Perhaps you’re in a dating relationship you can’t imagine walking away from. It could even be you simply have a habit that is so familiar to you, you wouldn’t recognize your life without it. I’m not suggesting God is necessarily asking you to leave any of these things. But what if he did? What if he has something different, even better, for you? And I think we have to talk about the thing that holds so many people back from stepping into the story God has for them. FEAR.

Fear is the great paralyzer for so many people. I see those who have so much going for them. They have strong dreams and compelling goals. They are part of a great church community where they are inspired on a weekly basis. They experience promptings from God, as though he is speaking directly to them. They have strong friendships with people who influence them for the good. But for some reason, fear continues to win the day in their hearts and in their lives.

While I’ve already shared Abraham’s story from Hebrews 11, known as the great chapter on faith, I really think it’s the last verse from chapter 10 that sets up everything we read about in chapter 11.

Hebrews 10:39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

So much about your future is going to be determined by which of these two groups you choose to join. And I personally don’t know anything that causes good people to shrink back more than fear. Think about this question:

What would you be attempting in your life if you weren’t afraid?

What dreams would you pursue? What would you learn how to do for the first time? Who would you reach out to in hopes of having a friendship or relationship with them? What would you allow your children to do? Where would you travel? How would you serve in this church or somewhere else? What promotion would you seek at work?

The difference between fear and faith has everything to do with what we see.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

If we are going to step away from a life of fear and step into a life of faith, we need a new set of eyes. Are you able to see what you cannot see yet? To have a compelling vision for your life, it is crucial to be able to “see” what you cannot yet see with your physical eyes. This was how Moses overcame his fears.

Hebrews 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

When God gives Moses his assignment of going to Pharaoh, Moses asks the first question all of us are prone to ask when God tells us he wants us to do something that seems impossible – Who am I? When God calls us into something that seems beyond what we think is possible for our lives, we automatically begin to look at our abilities. We’re essentially asking ourselves, “Do I have what it takes?” And to Moses and to us, God simply answers with, “I will be with you.” (see Exodus 3:12)

Moses could have been paralyzed by fear when he looked around him. Everyone in Egypt knew there was no power like the power of Pharaoh. But Moses was able to move into what God was calling him to do because he was able to see more than just what his earthly eyes captured. It seems counterintuitive, but we must train ourselves to see more than simply what our physical eyes can see.

Fear causes us to be focused on the obstacle, while faith in God causes us to be focused on the opportunity.

Unfortunately, not everyone develops the eyes of faith like this. And if you don’t have eyes of faith, you’re only left with what your natural eyes can see. When God comes to free the Israelites in Egypt, he isn’t only wanting to take them out of a bad situation. When God calls us out of something, he is also wanting to call us into something. So he brings the Israelites out of Egypt with the full intention of bringing them into Canaan, also known as the promised land. God tells Moses to send twelve leaders to explore the land. He also includes this:

Numbers 13:2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”

These spies explore this land and are gone for 40 days. They come back and report what they have discovered.

Numbers 13:27-28 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.”

In other words, the land is amazing, but there are some major obstacles. Anytime God has something for us to do in the world, we will find opportunities and obstacles present. And it really matters which one we tend to focus on most. It’s not about pretending obstacles don’t exist. We just need to decide which we are going to magnify – God’s promise or the challenges between us and the fulfillment of that promise.

Caleb, one of the 12 spies who explored the land, does this:

Numbers 13:30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Most of the other spies were unwilling to follow his lead. It’s interesting to remember what we read earlier about God giving them this land.

Often God wants to give us something, but we are unwilling to take possession of it.

Most people in this group missed out on what God had in store for them. But not Joshua and Caleb.

Numbers 14:24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.

Joshua and Caleb had a “YES” in their spirit for all God wanted to do for them, in them, and through them. This has been the story of Epic Church. It would have been so easy to never have started this church in the first place. And it would have been safe to never pray, sacrifice, and give to a future home in San Francisco when we began this journey 5 years ago. And now it might seem more comfortable for you to keep showing up but not contributing. But I promise you that stepping into where God is leading you is better. It might feel unfamiliar to join a team, start giving generously to the mission, and begin leading others around here, but don’t forfeit what could be while clinging to what has been.

And I know some of you are really feeling a desire to put your life into the hands of Jesus. But you’ve become so used to keeping your life in your own hands…it’s the familiar thing for you. Why not be willing to give up what’s familiar for something that’s far better? By faith, you can step into life with Jesus.

For all of us, will we choose here or there?