TRUST AND OBEY

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Genesis 12:1-5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Imagine that you wake up tomorrow morning and the first thing that happens is the Lord greets you while giving an order to leave your country, your people, and your house to travel to an unknown land, one that He promises to you. Then, He goes on to tell you that He will make you a great nation, make your name great and will bless you.

How would you respond to Him?

I don’t know about you but this would be a serious change in plans for me. I would be expected to report to work and not showing up would be grounds for termination.

And what about the mortgage and bills associated with my home.

How would everything get paid if I stop working because I was obedient to God’s calling and set out to the place where He wants me to go?

Not paying for my home will lead to me surely losing my home and everything I have worked so hard for.

I would also have to abandon my obligations at church. Someone would have to take over teaching my Sunday School class and cover my spot as a biblical lay counselor.

I’m sure there are more things I am forgetting but you get the point.

Could the Lord really expect me to just up and leave all this behind?

As we consider all this, I think we can really appreciate Abram and what he had to face as God did indeed tell him to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household, which amounted to his entire inheritance to go to a foreign land that God promised to show him. Look again at our passage for today from the opening verses of the twelfth chapter of Genesis:

The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Vv.1-5

Here, we see that Abram responded with no excuses or rebuttals, just pure faith. We read where he “left as the Lord had told him".  His actions serve as an amazing example of exceptional obedience and it’s important to note that he wasn’t young by any means. At the ripe age of seventy-five, he was probably just ready to settle down with Sarai and enjoy his later years of life but his God had other plans.

In considering Abram and how God used him, we need to understand that God could call us to do anything at anytime, not wanting us to give excuses as to why we can’t carry out His will. Like Abram, we need to respond in absolute faith, knowing that God will take care of us and our matters.

In my situation, I need to trust that God is going to provide for my needs, even though I wasn’t working and bringing in income. I would need to trust that He would take care of the disposition of my home and belongings. I would have to trust that He would call others into roles to cover church obligations in my absence.

Ultimately, I would have to trust God to take care of me as He always does. For that’s what Abram did and God did not disappoint. He’ll do the same for you and me as long as we trust Him and obey.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.