When Following God Doesn't Seem Logical

Genesis 12:5 - 9
Vs 4 – 5:  Obedience - Abram is 75 years old at the time of his calling and sets out as he’s told.  He took Sarai and Lot with him and all their possessions.  They head out to the land of Canaan.  Abram’s obedience was clearly connected to his faith.  Galatians 3:6 – 9 says, “just as Abraham 'believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness'?  Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.  And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed.' So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”  The response of Abram to God is key.  He did not have to go.  He could have pulled a Jonah and did the complete opposite.  The faith of Abram is great because he had nothing to go on other than God’s promise to bless him and his family. 

Vs 7:  Meeting with God –The Lord appears to Abram and re-iterates the promise to give the land to Abram’s offspring.  It is here that Abram builds an altar of worship and most likely offers a sacrifice to the Lord.  Both building an altar and offering sacrifice were expressions of faith in the promise and were integral to the worship of God. [1]

Application
In this passage we have a lot we can glean from.  The key that sticks out is that when God does call his people to give something up or leave something behind or go to a certain place he will replace that which was have given up with something much greater and far better.  It may not seem like this at first because giving up or leaving behind can be scary, risky and may cause great anxiety or concern.  When looking at the calling of Abram I notice three aspects that can apply individually today.  
1) God’s call on your life – God has a plan and purpose for you.  I do not know what God has called you to do but he has called you to something.  What is that something?  
2)  His promise of blessing.  What God ordains, God blesses.  When God calls you somewhere or to do something you cannot fail.   Sure there may be times when it may not look like this is true but God always gets his way.  What success looks like for him may not necessarily line up with how you define success today.  
3)  Our response.  When God calls and promises to bless; how will you respond?  What does this look like for you?  I can’t answer this questions for you but I can answer then for myself. There have been times in my life that I sensed God clearly called me to do something or to go to a place that I didn’t necessarily understand why or what he was up to.  When God called me to Bible College it made no sense at all.  I was a brand new Christian finally getting my life on track and He called me to sell all of my possessions, buy a ticket to California and spend two years in a remote mountain town studying the Bible exclusively.  Then when I graduated from college I came home to work and make some money so I could live a comfortable life and my plan was to eventually move back to the West Coast.  I worked construction for a time. I made very good money but God called me out from construction and into the ministry.  Needless to say I took a HUGE pay cut to serve in the ministry as a youth pastor.  It didn’t make sense but I believed God.  Eventually after 7 years in ministry He called me to uproot my family and move from my home church in Jamestown, NY to serve in Erie, PA at a Presbyterian Church for another six years. Then seven years ago he called me once again to pack up my family and all of my belongings and move 800 miles away from family and friends.  He called me here to Spring Valley, Wisconsin to Pastor a church for a season.  Now He has called me to leave this church and pursue a path that I am on now that I do not fully understand... BUT I trust Him in faith that He has my back and is going to bless my family and I for HIS glory.  Each time God has called me to a new location or to do something that may not seem logical it has never been easy but I have always been blessed. 

My heart is not rooted in being comfortable and stable as much as it is to be in God’s will.  My prayer has been and remains that I would be where God is calling me.  This is my prayer and my desire.

[1] Wenham, G. J. (1998). Vol. 1: Genesis 1–15. Word Biblical Commentary (280). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.