Part 2 - Genesis 12:1-9 - DON'T ASK QUESTIONS, JUST DRIVE! When God hijacks your life!
If you have kids, you know the routine. Five minutes into the trip they are asking "WHERE ARE WE GOING? WHEN DO WE GET THERE? ARE WE THERE YET?" At least Abram didn't have any kids, because he would have had a difficult time answering those questions. He didn't know himself. He was the child and God was driving the removal van.
God called Abram in Genesis 12:1-9. He said "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you."
How many sermons have you heard about this? I love this. "BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING". THAT'S SUMS UP THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. Abraham would be taken out of his comfort zone, with nothing but a promise from God. He would be protected by God and this is what I love, HE WOULD HAVE WORLDWIDE INFLUENCE - through him "All the families on earth would be blessed". Of course looking back, we see that JESUS CAME FROM ABRAHAM'S LINE SO THIS PROMISE OF BLESSING THE FAMILIES OF THE WORLD WAS FULFILLED IN CHRIST, WHEN HE BROUGHT SALVATION TO THE WORLD.
We also see the promise of protection over the Jewish race through the centuries. It seems that Satan has tried to wipe them out many times, but it hasn't happened and won't.
GOD HAS CHOSEN ME AND YOU! When God chose Abram, He chose a man who would influence nations, and God has called me to do the same. Jesus says to me and you in Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT) "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Abram was no spring chicken when he left Haran. He was a sprightly 75 year old, with a beautiful wife called Sarai who was 65. They lived a lot longer in those days, so these guys were still kids - well at least teenagers - OK, OK, young adults!
Abram was already a wealthy man. He had servants and probably walked out of Haran with quite and entourage of staff and livestock. God told him he would be blessed beyond that. Hebrews 11:8 (NLT) tells us "It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going."
I can't imagine packing the removal truck and saying to the driver to pull out without knowing what town you wanted him to go to. "DON'T ASK QUESTIONS! JUST DRIVE!" Sounds like a terrorist trying to hijack a vehicle. He stopped at a place called Shechem right in the middle of the promised land and it says in Genesis 12:7 "Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your descendants."
NOW PICTURE THIS. You are travelling in the removal van with your wife and the driver. Your wife can't be a "back seat driver" because you don't even know where you are going. The driver thinks your crazy, when all of a sudden, God appears in the truck right beside you and says, "THIS IS IT! YOU HAVE ARRIVED. THIS IS THE LAND I WILL GIVE TO YOUR KIDS". It would be very confirming, although a bit disconcerting. Especially when you are 75 and you don't have any children. AND I COULD HAVE DRIVEN RIGHT BY IF GOD HADN'T SHOWED UP! Talk about lack of planning! It's like shooting an arrow but not having a target and then saying that you got a bull's-eye!
I'M WITH ABRAM. I WOULD BE PUTTING UP SOME KIND OF LANDMARK. And I'd get down on my knees and thank Him that He showed up, because I was beginning to get dirty looks from the driver and my wife. I'D STAKE MY CLAIM, get God's signature on the documents and go to the city council, so they don't go building stuff on my land without permission or rezoning it for industrial waste.
Right now I don't have land or a house of my own. Just a knowledge that God is my God and a promise that He will provide, so Lord, show me where to go from here. When I arrive, let me know so like Abram I can recognize that You are in this. "Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east.
It's interesting - God "walked" and spoke with Adam, Enoch, and Noah, and somehow He also APPEARED TO ABRAM. I wonder how He appeared. Was it in human form, like some of His angels do throughout scripture? Was it Christ Himself who appeared to Abram in some kind of pre-incarnate form? John 1:18 (NLT) says "No one has ever seen God. But the One and only Son is Himself God and is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us."
Genesis 12:8 (NASB) goes on to say about Abram "Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord." I like this - he continued to "CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD". I would too. Such a strange way to travel, without a map, without a tourist guide, just call on God for guidance and help. Eventually he travelled right throughout the land of Canaan. Abram lived by faith. LORD, I NEED THAT KIND OF FAITH. LEAD ME EACH DAY. HELP ME WAIT FOR YOUR TIMING, AND FOR YOU TO OPEN DOORS. I CALL UPON YOU LORD, TODAY.
God bless you Church as you step out in faith today and look for the opportunities God gives you as you listen for His voice in whatever circumstances you face today.
Pastor Ross
