You Won’t Know Where Until You Go There

"…Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing’….. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran..” —Genesis 12:1-2,4

In my book, Where Faith Is Waiting, I identified nine spiritual principles that I have found to be at work as I pursued my new life in Christ. The second principle is this – Until We Obey His Leading By Faith, God Will Never Act On Our Behalf. In other words, God’s blessings are waiting on the other side of the door called obedience.  Abram – or later Abraham – had to exercise faith when God gave him direction. He could have stayed in Haran – where he was comfortable – where things were familiar – he was 75 years old!

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” – Hebrews 11:8-10

So you know that already – nothing new to you? I would hope so. But the question you should be asking is this. Of all the words and stories and admonitions that God could have chosen to have recorded in His revelation to the mankind through scripture – why tell us about Abraham? 

 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man (read man or woman) of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

That’s why! Because God wants us to learn from Abraham. God asked Abraham to leave his life – of 75 years behind – to journey to a place that God would show him without having the details on the path or the destination. To do that required great faith. To live the life that God has called us to live in the place where He will show us and at the cost of leaving our old life behind also requires great faith. It requires that our hearts be fully devoted to God. That is why God told us about Abraham. Because what God asked him to do – He asks us to do also.  The thing is that, if you are anything like me, you struggle with stepping out and going and doing where the Lord tells us to go and what the Lord tells us to do. Instead we want to trust in and turn to our old way of living.  Do you remember Peter getting out of the boat?

“And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.” – Matthew 14:28-32

“But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid” Peter started out well, but when he was faced with the physical reality of his obedient act – the natural impossibility of it – he put his faith back in his old nature and was in trouble. That is why Jesus chastised him. We do the same thing. We want to follow God but are unwilling to trust Him completely. We try to be obedient in some things and expect God to be pleased and bless us. We confuse success and accumulation in this world with God’s blessing us.  Worldly wealth and health is not a spiritual barometer. It is very possible that you can be destitute and ill and be a spiritual giant.  I will leave you with these verses to contemplate.

 “I [urge] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” – Romans 12:1-2

Just like Abraham ….

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone