Genesis 12:1-4 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (3) And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (4) So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Yesterday, we saw the Lord spoke to Abram and instructed him to leave his
family and familiar land to go to a place unknown to him. We are not told
if Abram questioned God or not, but we saw that "Abram departed, as the
Lord had spoken unto him." Isn't that a wonderful exhibition of
faith on his part? He left on the assurance of God that upon arrival he would
be shown the land promised to him. But in addition to the initial promise, God
also heaped other blessings upon Abram. "I will make of thee a great
nation. I will bless thee. I will make thy name great. You will be a blessing
and I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. In you will
all the families of the earth be blessed." It was upon those
promises, which were yet unseen, that Abram followed the direction of God.
*As a side note, but the most important notation* God has truly blessed
all the families of the earth through Abram in that Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
was made flesh and born into the lineage of Abraham.
Now for us today, we can see a blessing if we focus our attention upon the Lord
as He directs us in our everyday life. We are called upon to go through
situations and circumstances in which we cannot see the end result. We
sometimes are called to change jobs when it seems we are perfectly satisfied
where we are currently located. Sometimes, we are called to a different land
where we are unfamiliar. We are called upon to do certain things that at first
may not even make sense to us. But if we approach those times with the faith of
Abraham, we can realize the culmination of God's blessings at His appointed
time. What was the faith of Abraham? Let us look to God's Word for that answer.
Paul tells us in Romans 4:17 that Abraham called "those things which be
not as though they were." Then he went on to write these words,
"He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong
in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he
had promised, he was able also to perform." (Romans 4:20-21)
We are called upon to follow the direction of the Lord as a child holding his
parent's hand, simply trusting the love and wisdom of the One Who is leading
us.