Beginning Something Big

12 Now Jehovah said to Abram, “Go out from your land and from your kindred,[92] and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. ²And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. (Genesis 12:1-2)

Genesis is a book of beginnings. There is the beginning with Adam.

Then, following the flood, there is a new beginning with Noah. Then there is the beginning with Abram (later to be called Abraham). In Genesis chapter 12 we can read the account of God starting again with one man named Abram. God called Abram to leave his homeland and go to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he obeyed the voice of God, not knowing where he was going, he stepped out in faith. God promised that all nations would be blessed through Abraham’s offspring.

By faith, his wife, Sarah, was enabled to conceive when it seemed to her an impossible hope, as she was well past childbearing age. It is a remarkable story where we see that Abraham found God’s presence, power, protection, peace, and purpose in his life, through faith. But God also made demands of Abraham. God called him to leave the safety and security of the familiar and go out toward the unknown. This is God’s call to trust. Whether we are called to leave family and native land or to remain right where we are God requires our trust. God put Abraham to the test. Faith is often put to the test. The Bible does not promise that we will be exempt from hardships and trials. We face doubts and disappointments, problems and pain, suffering and sorrows. Abraham’s commitment to leave home and follow God was the beginning of something big. When we have faith, a great plan begins to unfold.

Trusting God will take us on a fulfilling journey.