Unfamiliar Territory...

“And the Lord told Abraham, ‘leave your native country, your relatives and your father’s family and go to the land that I will show you.  I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing to others'” Genesis 12:1-2

I absolutely love Abraham’s story.  He is noted as the father of faith and for great reason!  I mean come on, when you read the above scripture you would have to have great faith to even comprehend what God was asking of him.  When I first read this scripture, I imagined God saying to Abraham, “leave everything behind that you know to be familiar.  Everything that feels comfortable.  Everything that feels ‘like home'…..and follow me to a new place.”  Now come on, let’s be honest….God said a whole lot in that scripture, but left out a whole lot at the same time! lol  I look at this scripture and it shows me two things in particular: (1). Abraham was told to leave everything behind and (2). He had no idea where God was asking him to go.

“So Abraham departed and did as the Lord instructed.”-Genesis 12:4

God gave Abraham little to no instructions, yet the Bible says in verse 4: “So Abraham departed and did as the Lord instructed.”  That is mind blowing to me.  God basically told Abraham, to leave this familiar place and go to a new place that you don’t know…..but I’ll let you know when you get there.”  ……and Abraham did it!!! Now I don’t know about y’all, but I can’t say that I wouldn’t at least question God on this.  I mean like c’mon you got to give me more instructions then that. lol  In fact, I was looking for the verse where Abraham at least asked for further directions, but he didn’t!  He just did what God told him to do. Imagine that, right?  Not talking back to God, not questioning Him when He tells us to do something, but just being obedient. 

Recently, I started in a new position working in the field that I’ve always wanted to be in.  Although this has been a long time coming, it’s still unfamiliar territory for me.  Going to school for something and actually being put on the job for something are two completely different things. I had to trust God to get the job, but now I’m realizing I have to continue to trust Him to do the job.  I also believe that this new job symbolically marks the new season that God is entering me into.  The season of the unfamiliar.  The season where I will be taken out of my comfort zone in order to further follow God’s will for my life.  See Abraham may not have had many details on where God was taking him, but by faith Abraham knew that there were things that God had for him in this new, unknown, uncharted place.

“For some of us, we’ll forfeit the great promises of God because we are too busy being comfortable.”

Imagine what awaits us outside our level of comfort.  There are some things that God can only give us by stepping outside of our “familiar” places.  For some of us, we’ll forfeit the great promises of God because we are too busy being comfortable.   I can imagine that Abraham had some fears about this unknown territory that God was trying to take him in, but his level of trust and reliance on God outweighed his doubt.  That is why the Bible tells us to have faith like Abraham, the kind of faith where if God said it, then that’s good enough.  I have to admit, I do have some fears and hesitations about entering this new, unknown, unfamiliar season of my life……but I’m determined to have faith like Abraham that follows the word of God. So allow me to personalize verse 4 and say, “So Leah departed and did as the Lord instructed.”    

-Leah

Bible Study

*I encourage you to read the full story of  God's call to Abraham starting in Genesis Chapter 12!