Daily Devotional: Closer to God Every Day

Day 70: No roadmap or anything???

I think we'd all be very wise to follow after the lead of Abraham. Why? Because he set an example for how we are to follow the lead of our God.

Imagine the scene if you will: this man has just been called by the Creator of the Universe to do great things for both Heaven and earth. Now, when you read that last sentence, does it not sound incredibly vague?

One can't help but think, Yes, wow, great things for God. But, like, what "great things"? He was told all these promises but they certainly don't indicate what the end goal is and how he's supposed to get there.

Yes, my dear friend, I am certainly with you in my wonderings. I have no idea why God would dangle such grand promises before Abraham without doing so much as giving him a map of how to accomplish them.

Want to hear something even crazier? God even begins to give instructions to him that are just about as vague as the aforementioned promises. He tells Abraham, "'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you'" (Genesis 12:1).

Wow. Just wow. So now we see that this man, who has just been told he is destined to do great things (we'll touch on those "great things" in a second), is also being told that in order to follow this vague promise, he must leave everything comfortable and familiar to him (i.e. his home and his family) and wander in the direction of "the land that I will show you"? Talk about a request that requires incredible faith.

Thankfully, the promises were so great that they helped usher Abraham out of his comfortable life and into the far more rewarding life of following Christ. The promises? "'I will make 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'" (Genesis 12:2-3).

So you know what Abraham does next? Although he most certainly felt unsettled and reasonably scared about stepping out in faith (an assumption because he is, after all, human), we hear nothing about him questioning God. Instead, we see a swift and immediate obedience to the command of the Almighty.

Here is what Abraham is doing here: he is not following a plan; he is following the Promisor and the promise He provides.

Scripture records, "So Abram went, as the Lord had told him" (Genesis 12:4). And as he went, he "called upon the name of the LORD...and Abram journeyed on" (12:8-9).

What if the example Abram sets for us is not meant to be a one-time deal? What if how God dealt with Abram was not one crazy incident but rather an example He intentionally sets in the Bible to show us how He leads each of us?

What if in your life, the reason you are faced with many choices before a silent God is because God was never too concerned about which way you turned? Certainly, a route speckled with sin and disobedience are never the routes He calls you to, but routes that are each good and praiseworthy? Sounds to me like fair game.

Maybe God doesn't want you so stressed about coming before Him and begging for the plan. Maybe, as with Abraham, He intends to never share it with you. Instead, He wants you to do something far greater: to just "Go...to the land that I will show you" (12:1). No roadmap, no details, no specifics. Just pure, unadulterated faith.

Maybe God just wants you to come to Him. To look to Him. To keep taking steps forward in faith. Maybe He realizes that if you were given the plans and did not have to rely on the Promisor, you wouldn't feel the need to cling to Him... to follow Him.

But rest assured, Abraham's life, although not an easy one, was guided by God every step of the way. Not only was he blessed abundantly in this world, but notice how his name was made great just as God had promised (After all, aren't we still talking about him today?).

So it will be with your life. Keep pressing on and take heart when faced with decisions before a seemingly silent God. Know He is by no means silent but rather waiting for you to turn the laces of your shoes in the direction of following Him so that you might see His face and hear His voice.

Keep stepping out in faith—one foot at a time—and "Go"... and watch as God "shows".