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You Want Me To Do What?!

Have you ever been in a situation where you know the Lord is telling you to do something, but to your human mind it makes no sense? I have been there (see my previous post). And being in that situation is troubling. There is no doubt in your mind as to what you must do, but it just does not make sense.

In this day and age, we are bombarded with teachings that would have us believe that when God wants us to do something, He swings the doors and windows of opportunity wide open, lays down a red carpet for us and lines the path with neon signs pointing us in the right direction. And we get to a point that if we don't see all of that, we begin to question God's will and seek to ask for confirmation after confirmation. We might even get to the point of asking for specific signs a la Gideon and the fleece (see Judges 6:11-17, 36-40).

But what if we were to act just because that is what God would have us do?  Consider Abram (later Abraham) and Sarai (later Sarah). Genesis 12:1-8 gives the account of how the Lord told Abram to take his wife Sarai and leave his father's house and all his kindred and go to a land that the Lord would show him for God promised to make of Abram a great nation. To understand the magnitude of God's command, we must first have a little background on Abram.

At the time, he was 75 years old and his wife was about 9 years younger. They were quite wealthy and enjoyed the protection of dwelling in a large community where Abram's family was well-respected. From that comfortable existence God tells Abram to move, but did NOT specify the destination (v.1). Can you imagine being told to relocate, but not be told the new location? Can you imagine having to communicate that to your spouse and/or family members? The most natural and indeed the easiest human response would be to dismiss the command. It's one thing to be told to go to a place where you have never been and where you have no friends and family. That scenario is daunting on its own because you would have no idea of what to expect. But to be told to move and not have a destination? Preposterous...to the human mind.

And to further compound the absurdity of the command, Sarai was BARREN and beyond child-bearing years. Yet, God promised to make of Abram a great nation. God even showed Abram the land that was to belong to his children (vv. 6-7). None of this could have made sense to them at the time.

But Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us that God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are much higher than ours. Abram and Sarai must have known that because in v. 4, they departed just as the Lord had commanded them. And what is really interesting to note is that the Bible does not record even a moment of hesitation from Abram, Sarai, Lot (Abram's nephew) or Terah (Abram's father). Everyone seemed to accept the command and leave everything else up to God. I suppose they understood the words of Proverbs 3:5 (KJV), "Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding."

What is it that we are struggling with? What is it that God requires us to do that seems illogical? Do we truly believe that He is sovereign? Are we willing to trust Him? Are we willing to walk the inconvenient path?

Father in Heaven, help us to understand that You are sovereign in ALL things. Help us to trust You beyond even our own understanding, so that even when we cannot figure out the how and the why of Your will, we will still obey, knowing that You are faithful to see us through to the end...In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 6, 2012 at 4:35 PM

    It helps each of us to truly trust God with our lives....If God can do it for them....he can certainly do it for us especially when it doesn't make sense to us.

    ReplyDelete

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