If you want to be great, you will, at many points in your life, have to exercise great courage.
And our ability to exercise great courage depends on how we answer this question: “Do we trust God enough to follow Him even when we don’t understand where He’s leading us?”
Marinate on Genesis 12:1-3. It’s the story of how God called Abram to trust Him:
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” (Genesis 12:1-3, ESV).
God calls Abram to leave his country. That can be a traumatic experience!
God calls him to leave his family. That’s very traumatic! Our families give us a sense of value, belonging, and purpose.
God then calls him to leave his father’s house. This is TRAUMATIC! God is asking Abram to forsake his identity, all of who he is, which was given to him by his earthly father. God in essence is saying, “Abram, your entire being is now found in me. I’m your identity. You exist for me and my purposes.”
God asked Abram to give up what we may perceive as a lot, so that God’s mission would be actualized in human history (Genesis 12:3).
Did you know God is going to ask you to give up a lot? This is why most people don’t fulfill their God-given potential for greatness.
They want to stay in their “spiritual country,” which may be a certain job that allows them to maintain a certain lifestyle.
They want to stay with their “spiritual family”; this may be continuing to stay in an unhealthy relationship which compromises their commitment to Jesus.
They many want to stay with their “spiritual father.” In America, our core identity is found in our money and comfort, so we hoard and protect our comfort instead living in the joy of generosity and risk.
Abram, who became Abraham, received much more than He gave up by trusting God. But more importantly, the world was blessed by his obedience.
He became great. But he had to exercise great courage by trusting in a great God.
The greater you think God is, the more you’ll trust Him when you don’t understand.
Maybe our lack of trust and willingness to follow beyond a superficial level indicates how big and loving we think God really is?
