New Year New Journey…Leaving Home

Gen. 12:1-7

As a freshman in high school, my father, who was a pastor, moved our family from a rural town of 1000 people in North Central Texas to a suburb of Detroit, Mi. Aside from the climate change, there was a huge culture shock as most of my new classmates wondered why I didn’t wear my gun to school and which stagecoach we had arrived on.

On the way, as we moved through Ohio, we stopped at a restaurant for dinner. My mom asked the waitress for iced tea, to which she quickly and efficiently replied, “We don’t have any!” My mom immediately responded by asking, “Do you have hot tea, and, do you have a glass with ice?” When the waitress answered in the affirmative, my mom, with a big smile, very kindly said, “Please bring me the hot tea and the glass with ice and I’ll show you how to make iced tea!!”

The Old Testament patriarch, Abraham, is a prime example of God’s ability to grow our faith, and in turn, our obedience. God called him to the Journey of Journeys in Genesis, Chapter 12, and Abraham’s response determined not only his destiny, but that of countless others.

The call went something like this, “Hello Abraham, I’m God. I want you to leave your home, where your extended family resides, take your wife and all your stuff and go to a place that I will show you. Even though you don’t know where you’re going or how far away it is, I’ll let you know when you get there. Be sure not to leave anything behind because you’re not ever coming back.

Oh, by the way, if you choose to follow My call, I will give you many descendants, I will bless you in many ways, I will bless those who love you, I will protect you from those who hate you and One of your descendants will bless all families of the world forever.”

All this, even though Abraham was 75 years old, had no children, and, while very wealthy, he would have to leave his father’s homestead and forsake his future inheritance.

To his credit, he obeyed the Lord and made preparation to leave immediately. Can you imagine the conversation between Abraham and Sarah, his wife?

“Honey, we’re leaving our home immediately. I don’t know where we’re going, how long it will take to get there, what the people are like, or how we will live. I only know that God told me to go and that He will bless us if I obey.”

In spite of the uncertainty, Abraham left with all of his numerous possessions and continued on the journey until God showed him the place where he was to live in the land of Canaan, a place filled with barbaric, hostile, unfriendly people.

Yet, when he arrived in the new land, Abraham didn’t began to doubt God’s call to his journey or whine and complain about the conditions. Instead, he built an altar, worshipped and praised God and pledged his future trust and obedience in God’s Word.

            As believers, there are many lessons we can learn from this Biblical account:

1.     In His Word, God is calling you to a journey and it involves your constant trust and obedience. 

2.     In His Word, you will  discover that His call comes with many promises. 

3.     The future of the journey will always be unknown and what you experience may not always be to your liking. 

4.     Your ability to experience God as He intended, through a relationship with Jesus Christ is solely dependent on your willingness to know what He has said to in His Word and trust Him enough to do it.

 It is my prayer that you will grow in your walk with Jesus to the point of trusting Him unconditionally. If you have never had a personal experience with Jesus, I’d be honored to share with you what God has said about knowing Him as personal Lord and Savior. Feel free to email me at: rogerbrink@the newlife.org and I’ll be happy to contact you about getting together.

I trust you will have a blessed beginning to 2010,

Pastor Roger