Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And 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. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him . . .
When I was doubting God’s existence and didn’t think anyone could accept me for all that i am, Abraham was the most profound Biblical character for me (...other than but pointing to Jesus).
I was already quite familiar with his story, since my parents once paid me allowance for reading through the Bible. Genesis seemed like a natural place to start, and its rich narratives kept me interested even as a pre-adolescent reader.
The spiritual significance eluded me at the time, only to ambush me in the middle of high school through a certain youth volunteer seeking to know me. He described faith as not necessarily a function of the mind or heart, but a component of the will. Even with my reservations and resentments towards God as a burden, I could freely choose live in a way that acknowledged His being and faithfulness.
The Lord’s voice called me away from everything I’d known, on a step-by-step journey where I may not know the destination until my arrival. I could choose to stay, rationalizing the voice as my own thoughts or settling for the satisfaction of static sameness… or I could choose to go, denying my doubt and resisting my reluctance in every footfall.
i chose to follow.
Where I once saw the passage where is concerned spiritual maturity alone, I’m now receiving it with renewed meaning for the more broad and practical matters of adulthood (though the spiritual is thoroughly intertwined).
I say I know what I’m doing - studying to become a history teacher - only so far as it helps me plan ahead, build motivation, and navigate small talk… but more truthfully I don’t know what I’m doing, since only the Lord knows tomorrow and can ready me for it.
I’m just dressing myself for deserts since it’s all I’ve seen for some time; for all I know, my route will lead me to a forest or a stream, or a mountain or an ocean. Should that expected-unexpected day come, I’ll rely on divine providence as I strive to adjust and apply my skills and resources.
That said, I can also better expand my skills and resources in the present, namely through staying involved in formal ministry, persistently practicing my writing, and lurking among additional avenues for exercise and learning (currently, learning Japanese language). These disciplines are also a part of the step-by-step responsibility in my continuous sojourn.
If God can conquer a land through a venerable man and his infertile wife, I can look at my own horizon (however vague) with secure hope for how He will continue using me.
. . . as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
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