The Call of Abram

When we think of Abraham we often recall a great man of faith who did amazing things in the name of the Lord. He followed God in such a way, he was willing to sacrifice his flesh and blood to obey God's will. It was Abraham who received the blessing that he would have descendants that would be God's people. We could not have the Old Testament without Abraham - he was a great man of faith. With all of these heroic stories, it is easy to forget where Abraham came from.

In Genesis 12 we find the story of the call of Abram. This is before God changed his name to Abraham - before Sarah gave birth to Isaac. In verses 1 - 3 God instructs Abram to leave his family, everything he has ever known, to set out into the wilderness to find the land of God's blessing. Now let's process this for a moment - we are still in Genesis so there are not too many people populating the earth, and it is not like Abraham can go to the local McDonalds and pick up a job if these plans did not work out. God was calling him to leave everything he knew, take his wife and possessions along with Lot and head out. He did not even know where he was heading too! God simply said, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." (Gen. 12:1) Now, the micromanager in me would rise up in protest to this - I could not help but ask where God? Why God? When? I mean, he did not even have the ability to write home! God simply said go - and I will show you. I will bless you through your descendants. He did not even have any kids, and as we know Sarah was barren.

As the story unfolds, we see God promise him land and change his name to Abraham. Although he knows the land he is promised, Abraham never sees his blessing come to fruition. It takes decades for the Israelites to go through slavery, through the desert, and then fight countless battles to earn their promised land. Once we break this story down, it is not as glorious as we portray it to be. God's initial blessing in chapter twelve takes the entire Old Testament to unfold.

As I walk through my life, I often get impatient and ask why God? Where God? When? In reality, our entire life is the unfolding of God's will. Like the Israelites, we must work to reach our promised land. We often look at the Old Testament and see God working great things through unworthy vessels, but what we forget is the process. I can imagine the Israelites wandering in the desert thinking really? Where is this so called promised land? Through their wandering God was shaping them - molding them - so they would be prepared once they received their ultimate blessing. If we never suffer through the desert, we can not find the true beauty in the land of milk and honey that lies before us.