Have you ever considered Sarah? As in Abraham and Sarah from Genesis, Sarah? I was studying Genesis and reading the story that I have read many times before, when it stood out to me that Sarah, or Sarai as she was called then, moved on account of her husband. Think about it for a minute. Here is Sarai, living in Haran. History scholars say that she and Abram were there for anywhere between sixty and seventy-five years. Can you imagine living in one place that long? She had a home in a city. She had friends. Family. She was established there. Then her husband comes home and says, “Babe, it’s time to go. God says that we need to move.”

“Move where?” she asks.

“God just said that He would show me.” Can you even imagine? I know you can. You’re a military spouse. We move all the time. She, Sarai, is expected to just pick up her whole life and move around in a tent until God says, “Stop.” No timeline. No moving company. No hotels or temporary housing along the way. Moving only as fast as the walking and livestock will allow. She was being asked to give up all of that. To face uncertainty. And to feel the loss and grief that comes from leaving important relationships with no promise of ever going back

And we military spouses are expected to up and go at will…just like Sarai. Sometimes months of preparation, and sometimes not. Sometimes we have a solid plan, and sometimes not. But moving is the norm. And God sees you. He put Sarai in the bible to let us know that sometimes, He just calls us to up and move. Whether that comes through our husbands, like Sarai, or the military. Sarai went. Because God’s calling wasn’t just for Abram. It was for her. God’s calling isn’t just for your husband. It is for you as well. There are specific assignments that He has for you that will come through your obedience to His call.

As a military spouse of twenty years, I moved many times. Some moves were celebrated. One in particular caused great heartache. I had found a home at that duty station. Not one prone to dramatics, I almost had a panic attack as I drove through the intersection while leaving town. I knew the pain that Sarai must have felt as she left what must have been so dear to her. My next duty station brought about some of the best relationships that I have ever had. I have the most friends to this day from that assignment. I am so grateful that I looked for the fruit. It is still evident in my life.

God didn’t tell Abram and Sarai to move for the fun of it. He told them to go so that they could receive a promise. He would make them a great nation and bless all the families of the earth because of them. She would have a son. She would bear fruit. And she did, although she had to go through a famine first. (I will talk about that next week.) And Sarai made it to the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11. In Hebrews, the author gives a long list of people, many from the Old Testament, who had exemplary faith. Their faith encourages us, as military spouses who also live by faith.

By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Hebrews 11:11

God’s call for you also comes with a promise. God has promised that you will bear fruit. It might not look like you expect. It might not be this specific duty assignment. And you might have to go through a famine first (figurative, likely not literal: spiritual, emotional, etc.). But that is His promise to you. That is His calling upon your life. That you would bear fruit. By faith, you can embrace this call and

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name He may give you. John 15:16

And your fruit will look like you. No one else will bring about what you bring about. You are uniquely created with love and forethought for this specific time and your specific place. You will meet people and form relationships with them that no one else will. You will be planted in a church and take up a unique place that is just for you. Your part is to follow the call. Your part is to move in obedience. But God has promised fruit.

This week, reframe your upcoming or past move as a calling by writing one sentence that names the fruit you hope to bear in your next place.