Last Sunday, I started a message about the
call of God to Abraham and today, I want to continue it.
GENESIS 12:1-3 1
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and
your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will
make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and
whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will
be blessed through you."
God told Abraham to leave his country, his
people, and his father’s house and go to a land God would show him.
The catch was that God did not show where he was to go until he
went. That requires real faith—to pack up and go when you don’t know
where you are going—to trust that God will show you while you are on
the way.
When God called my husband and myself into the ministry—that’s how
He did it. He told us “go”, but didn’t say where we were going till
the last moment.
We
were learning to trust and obey—to submit to God.
THE GREATEST LIBERTY
WE WILL EVER FIND IS IN SUBMITTING COMPLETELY TO GOD. ABRAHAM
LEARNED THIS LESSON. HIS LIFE WAS ALL ABOUT THE PATH TO COMPLETE
TRUST AND OBEDIENCE. I’VE BEEN LEARNING THIS LESSON ALL MY LIFE AND
I KNOW ALL YOU HAVE TOO.
Last week I left you
hanging and told you I was going to share about how God called my
husband and myself into the ministry—and how we responded.
I told myself that I trusted God; that I
wanted God’s will for my life; that I was willing to do whatever He
wanted me to do and go wherever He wanted me to go. I soon found out
that I wasn’t quite as willing as I thought.
God let us know that he was moving
us, but He didn’t tell us where, at first. Then, it seemed as if He
was going to send us to Canada—but He actually sent us to Alabama.
That’s another story.
When we got to Alabama, I was
elated, thinking I knew what was in store for us. But nothing turned
out the way I thought it would and we were not “God’s gift to the
ministry” the way I thought we would be.
We remained in Alabama for a year
of training and then God again said “GO”. And, this time, He didn’t
tell us anything but “GO south”. So, we did. We packed up a truck
with all our possessions and went. Our truck broke down and I also
got really sick on the way. It was one of the most difficult things
we’d ever experienced.
We still didn’t know where we were
going until we got to Florida and then God told us we were going
back to Miami, where we both grew up. This was the place we least
wanted to end up (which was probably one of the reasons that God
didn’t tell us where we were going until we were already on the
road).
Many times, we want to know the
future. We ask God to show us His will and believe that we would be
obedient no matter what. God, in His wisdom, knows better. He knows
that if He showed us what was ahead for us, we’d run screaming. So,
for the most part, He shows us once step at a time.
So, God didn’t tell us our
destination was Miami until we were in South Florida. When He did
tell us, we obeyed and went. But on the inside, I was not being
obedient.
Do you remember the old story of
the little boy whose teacher told him to sit down and he finally
did, but he said he was “standing up on the inside”? Well, that
pretty much describes my attitude that first year we were in Miami.
I was unhappy about every single thing in my life. I didn’t want to
be in the city God called us to. I didn’t want to be living in the
house we were in (with my mother) and I did not want to be in the
ministry we were called to. It got even worse.
I spent a year experiencing what
it must have been like in the belly of a whale because I was very
much like Jonah…running from God’s call (on the inside anyway).
But God was working in me. He says
in His Word that He works in us“both to will and to do”. At the end of a year, God broke
through the hardness of my heart and showed me that there was no
happiness or peace to be found outside of His will. And, He
showed me that the hard part was in DECIDING to do His will. Once
that decision was made, the rest wasn’t as hard as I thought.
IN FACT, THAT’S WHEN I BEGAN TO
KNOW JOY—WHEN I ACCEPTED GOD’S WILL FROM MY HEART.
ABRAHAM HEARD GOD’S VOICE AND
OBEYED. But, obedience needs to be complete. Partial
obedience is not enough.
GOD HAD TOLD ABRAM TO
LEAVE HIS COUNTRY, HIS RELATIVES, AND GO TO THE PLACE WHERE GOD
SHOWED HIM. That’s what God said and here’s what Abraham did.
Genesis 12:4
So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.
Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.
DID ABRAM OBEY GOD COMPLETELY?
NO---HE DID NOT. HE TOOK HIS RELATIVES WITH HIM. HE ONLY WENT AS FAR
AS HARAN BECAUSE HE TOOK HIS FATHER WITH HIM AND SETTLED IN HARAN
UNTIL HIS FATHER DIED…AND THAT CAUSED A DELAY AND A PROBLEM.
Acts 7:4 "So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran.
After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you
are now living.
Sometimes, we are only
partially obedient to God’s call because we are tied to
relationships, things, pursuits, mindsets, or people that God wants
us to be free of so that we can move into what He has prepared for
us. God always knows what will weigh us down and WHO will hold us
back from fulfilling our destinies. He knows what’s best for us and
that’s why complete obedience to HIM is essential for living good
and fulfilling lives.
GOD IS NOT NECESSARILY
TELLING US TO LEAVE OUR HOMES, OUR CITIES, OR OUR “FATHER’S HOUSE”.
He is certainly not telling us to leave our immediate family. But
here is what He IS telling us is :
LEAVE OUR OLD CARNAL
WAYS OF LIFE—THE KIND OF WAYS THAT DRAG US DOWN. SOMETIMES, WE HAVE
TO LEAVE PLACES AND SITUATIONS THAT ARE SINFUL. IT MIGHT NOT EVEN BE
OUR OWN SIN, BUT THE SIN OF OTHERS.
Abraham was called to
leave Ur of the Chaldees—a city in Mesopatamia--- because the people
of Ur practiced horrible things—idolatry, human sacrifice, terrible
immorality. God could not bless Abraham while he was there.
God's call to "get thee out"
and be separated was the key to Abraham's life. It is the same for
His children today. What are we to separate ourselves from?
IMMORALITY, IDOLATRY, WORLDLINESS, CRUELTY…ETC.
AND THEN, SOMETIMES, GOD
WANTS US TO JUST LEAVE THE PAST BEHIND, WITH IT’S FAILURES OR
SUCCESSES.
Sometimes He wants us to
leave old rituals and doctrines behind because they are man made. He
wants us to have fresh revelation—revelation based on the WORD, not
on tradition or culture. Culture is fine unless it conflicts with
scripture.
LET’S BE READY TO PACK AND
GO! LET’S BE READY TO LEAVE THE PAST AND THE OLD WAYS BEHIND AND
SERVE THE LORD IN NEWNESS!!
And remember what we get in
return:
Abram acted on the word of the
Lord, not knowing all the particulars—just knowing that God said
“go”. And God said to him:
1.I will make you a great nation
2. I will bless you
3. I will make your name great
4. And you will be a blessing
5. All the people will be blessed
through you.
HOW DOES THAT RELATE TO US TODAY?
1.You may start as
“one” but will end up as many—a force to be reckoned with—akin to a
nation.
2.God will bless you
personally. In your finances, relationships, health, emotional well
being, spirituality, family, ministry…etc.
3.God will make your
name great—respect, honor, due praise.
4.You will be a
blessing to others. Not just that you will bless others, but that
your very existence and presence will be a blessings to others.
5.Through you, people
will be blessed. Through your testimony, your sharing God’s Word,
through relationship and bloodline.
ALL THE PROMISES APPLY TO US
BECAUSE WE ARE ABRAHAM’S SEED THROUGH FAITH!!
