🌿 Branching Out: A Reflection on Staying Where You Don’t Belong

A Time of Change: A Time of Obedience 🌿

By Jennifer Greene-Sullivan

Just this week, the Lord has been showing me that my quiet season is drawing to a close. I can feel it—the gentle rumble of transition deep in my spirit. It’s a mixture of nervousness and excitement, the same trembling anticipation that always accompanies the call to step out in faith.

For a while now, I’ve been abiding in the vine, letting the Vinedresser prune and shape me. I’ve felt His quiet hand at work—cutting away the dead wood, preparing me for a season of growth. And now, He’s showing me: It’s time. The meristem—that tender shoot at the tip of the branch—is ready to burst forth.

🌿 Isaiah 43:18-19 (ESV)
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

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🌸 A Glimpse of What’s Behind

Before new growth comes, God often gives us a final look back—a glimpse of where we’ve come from, and earlier in May, I attended Wheeler County’s Senior Honors Night, surrounded by familiar faces and dear friends. I sat among colleagues I love, sharing in the celebration of students’ achievements.

And yet… deep in my spirit, I felt it:
“I no longer belong here.”

Not because I didn’t love them. Not because I wasn’t grateful. Because God was whispering that my season in this place had passed. He was showing me the old soil—the familiar fields where I’d once been planted—so that I could release them.

The next day, I shared my feelings with a friend. He said, “Realizing you don’t belong somewhere anymore is a REAL thing.” He understood. Maybe you do too.

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🌿 The Call to Move Forward

My flesh wants to argue: “Lord, why are You showing me this? Are You rubbing it in? I’m already in this quiet, uncertain place where I barely recognize myself.”

But the Holy Spirit knows better than I; The Father isn’t rubbing it in my wound. He’s reminding me:
“Don’t look back. Look forward.”

Just like the Israelites standing at the edge of the wilderness, I can’t go back to Egypt. Even when the wilderness felt like home, it was never meant to be permanent. I’m called forward.

And so are you.

🌿 Exodus 14:15 (ESV)
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.’”

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🌱 New Growth Ahead

When we say “Yes” to God—whether in trembling whispers or bold declarations—new growth comes. The apical meristem bursts into life.

My spirit has a new shoot of hope, a life pruned, a life restored, a life made new!

If this resonates with you today—if you’re feeling the discomfort of staying in a place where you no longer belong—hold steady. God is preparing you for more.

You may not see it yet. You may feel blind to what’s ahead. But He promises:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
– Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

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🙏 A Prayer for the Journey

Father,
I feel the tension of standing in a place where I no longer belong. My spirit aches with the awareness of change, but my flesh trembles at the unknown. Today, I give You my “Yes.”
My YES to Your plans.
My YES to moving forward.
My YES to leaving behind what no longer serves me.
Grow me. Shape me. And let me blossom into the woman You’ve always known me to be.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

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📖 A Challenge for the Week

• Reflect on where God may be calling you to step forward.
• Identify one thing (a mindset, a habit, a relationship) you’re being called to release.
• Lean into prayer, fasting, community, and the Word to strengthen your resolve.
• Say YES—even if you don’t yet know where He’s leading.

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📖 Scripture Study for Growth

• John 15:1-8 – Abiding in the vine and bearing fruit
• Jeremiah 29:11 – God’s plans for hope and a future
• Isaiah 43:18-19 – Forget the former things; see the new thing God is doing
• Hebrews 11:8 – Abraham’s faith to move without knowing where he was going
• Philippians 3:13-14 – Forgetting what is behind and pressing forward

#StayTheCourse #BranchingOutWithGod #VineAndBranch #SpiritLedJourney #QuietSeason #FaithInAction #GodsTiming #Jeremiah2911 #PrunedForPurpose #ApicalMeristemFaith #NewGrowth #WildernessToPromise #AgingEnglishMajorPress #WalkingInFaith #GodsPlansAreGood