This is part 4 of a 5-part series. View the entire series here.
The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. – Genesis 12:1-4 NLT
When God told Abraham to leave his home country—which meant leaving everyone and everything he’d ever known—Abraham didn’t have all the answers. He had promises from God that his family would be blessed, but as far as a place to live? A means to provide for his family? God didn’t give specifics on any of that. But even before Abraham knew exactly what the future was going to hold, he had faith in his Father to work it all out.
A few chapters earlier, in Genesis 6-7, God told Noah that He was going to destroy the earth with a flood and asked Noah, “the only blameless person living on earth at the time,” to build a boat so that his family, along with all the animals, would be not be destroyed (Genesis 6:9 NLT). Because Noah knew God and “walked in close fellowship with [Him],” he trusted what God said, even before he saw any physical proof of the flood (6:9).
Often, God will ask for our obedience before giving us all the answers. His purpose in doing so is never to trick us or string us along; instead, He wants to know that we trust Him more than we want everything figured out. He wants us to continue coming to Him for each next step, relying on Him to reveal each piece of the puzzle in due time.
God asks for your obedience in a hundred small ways every day. Like leading you to pray for your waitress in the middle of a busy restaurant, or asking you to get up earlier than usual to go for a walk so you can spend time with Him before taking the kids to school. The more practiced we become at obeying God in small ways, the easier it will be to obey Him in big ways—like when He asks you and your family to move to a different state where you don’t know anyone. Or when He calls you to quit your job before you have another one lined up.
Don’t be surprised if the world considers your obedience foolish. It’s easy to imagine there were moments after leaving their homeland when Abraham’s wife might’ve asked, Are you sure this is what God told you to do? It’s easy to imagine others looking at Noah while he was building the ark and mocking him or even calling him crazy.
But when you’re walking in close step with God, you have something the world will never be able to offer you: assurance of a good outcome, because you’re trusting in the One guiding you along.
