“The Adventure Ahead”
January 4, 2009
Genesis 12: 1-5
“The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.” Genesis 12: 1-5
Have you ever been on an adventure? I’ve been on a few. As a young man I packed my few belongings on my motorcycle and headed to Missouri to live with my uncle Duane for a while. A couple years later I was headed to Korea to spend a year with the US Army. I think my trip to Ecuador as a pastor would count as an adventure. My trip to Brazil was another. I’ve climbed the highest mountain in the continental United States and been to the lowest spot in the hemisphere. I stood on the equator and hunted solo in the high Sierras and the Rocky Mountains. I been on a few adventures – but none were like Abram’s adventure. The closest I come to that is when God called me to preach and led me to Nazarene Bible College in Colorado Springs.
I was working in the iron mines of northern Minnesota. Life was beginning to get pretty good, after I accepted Christ – but God, in a dramatic way, reminded me that He had called me to preach and now was the time to go. I quit my job in the iron mines, packed what few belongings I had in my old black Mercury, left family and friends, and headed to Colorado Springs.
When I left three years later, I had a paper that said I was qualified to preach in a Nazarene Church, I had a beautiful young wife, the most beautiful red headed baby girl in the world, and a desire to serve God. I was ready and willing for whatever God had for me.
But think of Abram’s adventure. He was seventy five years old. Adventure is for the young – isn’t it? When we get old, we like life to be safe and secure, and most 75 year olds want to stay close to home. But God called Abram to leave his comfort zone; leave the familiar; leave the sheltered; and go to a new and strange place.
What thoughts ran through his mind? What emotions surged in his heart? What fear rose up to challenge him? You know there were many. But Abram was a man of faith; he was a man of God – an old man of God, but God was not done with him yet! God wasn’t going to let him sit out the last few years of his life and passively let death slowly creep toward him, like most do. He was going to face his fear with faith and because of it – change the world. He was going to become the father of nations.
As we enter into this New Year; as we enter into a new decades’ uncharted waters – we are facing an adventure ahead. I wonder where we are headed. I wonder what’s going to happen. Things in our world are shaping up for a great climatic end that the Bible talks about – and we are so privileged to be a part of it!
Let me share with you some thoughts about the adventure ahead. First of all, God will be with us. Keep in mind that “God will not take us where His grace can not keep us.”
John Ortberg in his book- “If You Want To Walk On Water You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat” says this about fear:
“The single command in Scripture that occurs more often than any other-God’s most frequently repeated instruction-is formulated in two words: Fear Not. He says, “Do not be afraid. Be strong and courageous. You can trust me. Fear not.”
Why does God command us not to fear? Fear does not seem like the most serious vice in the world. It never made the list of the Seven Deadly Sins. No one ever receives church discipline for being afraid. SO why does God tell human beings to stop being afraid more often than he tells them anything else? My hunch is that the reason God says “Fear Not” so much is not that he wants us to be spared emotional discomfort. In fact, usually he says it to people to do something that is going to lead them into greater fear anyway. I think God says, “fear not” so often because fear is the number one reason human beings are tempted to avoid doing what God asks them to do” (117,118).
What is God asking you to do this year? Does it scare you? Is He asking you to do something that takes faith? He may be asking you to trust Him in your finances. How can we start tithing when the economy is so unstable? How can we be generous when our future is so unsure? We are so fearful of failure and being forsaken.
The answer is faith. Are you living by faith? Or are you living by fear? God may be leading you into uncharted waters this year. You see all the dangers. You see all the opportunities for failure. You see potential for great pain in your life. It’s risky following God. But God says, “Fear not”. “Trust me’. Whatever it is that God has for you this year – or wherever He is leading you – remember that old adage, “God will never take you where His will cannot keep you.” As long as you are following God; as long as you keep your eyes on Jesus; as long as you keep your hand in His – you are safe. You will be okay no matter where this New Year takes us. He has promised,
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28:20
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Heb. 13:5 & Deut. 31:6
A second thing to remember as we face this New Year is that change is coming. God called Abram from Haran to Canaan. God called me from Minnesota to Colorado and from Colorado to California. Sometimes God may call us to physically leave where we are and go to new places. He did that with Julie and me when we came here. But more likely He is calling us to new ‘spiritual’ places. We get so content with the old and familiar. Most of us like routine and order in our lives. New things throw us off. Strange things frighten us. Our human nature does not like change. But that is the desire of God. Change is inevitable if we follow Jesus. Listen to what the Sages say about it.
"There is no growth without challenge, and there is no challenge without change."
“Change is always hard for the man who is in a rut. For he has scaled down his living to that which he can handle comfortably and welcomes no change or challenge that would lift him.”
“I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change - if they are to get better.”
“It is the most unhappy people who most fear change.”
"To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly."
It is God’s desire that you change, this New Year. He wants you to grow. He wants you to mature. He wants you to become bigger and better and fuller and richer than you were last year. To do that you need to change habits and attitudes and even your thought process.
In Genesis 11:31 we read,
“Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.”
God called Abraham’s father to go to Canaan, the land of milk and honey – but they never made it. We don’t know why. Maybe God would have made His nation out of Abram’s father – if he would have listened to God. But he chose to settle in someplace safe with familiar people around Him. So He missed the blessing and caused his family to miss it, too.
God is calling you to have a closer relationship with Him this year. He desires to be closer to you; to be more intimate with you. How you respond to this change will affect not only yourself, but those around you as well. This New Year, remember that God is calling you to change. He is calling you to new places.
Thirdly, realize that God always ultimately leads to blessing. Canaan was a ‘land ‘flowing with milk and honey’. You need to understand the nature of God – and that is love. God is love. God is good. That needs to be the basis of all our theology. God is a good God who loves to love. When He deals with you – understand that it is always for your good. Sometimes the path there is difficult and challenging and even painful. But the end is awesome. Think of all the illustrations of that. Not only was Abram blessed in the end for his faithfulness, but Joseph, Moses, Job, David, and a host of others were, too. Jesus gives us so many promises of good things to come. Like: Eternal life; heaven; eternal joy; honor and praise and eternal love. Listen to the promises:
To the Faithful servant: "His master replied, ’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” Matthew 25:23
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 6:24
“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” 1 Peter 5:4
“…it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" 1 Corinthians 2:9
If you don’t know this side of God - get to know Him. Talk to Him. Read His will in His Word. Walk in His ways. You will see that He is good. You will see that He really does love you. And, as Paul says, “If God be FOR us – who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31b) The future should hold hope and anticipation of even better things to come. We don’t have to fear tomorrow – because God is already there. And He will see us through the trials and into the blessings. There is a land that flows with milk and honey for us.
One last observation: 4) God saves the best for last. Abraham was 75 years old when God sent him on his adventure. Imagine the dialogue between Abraham and God.
“Abraham, this is God speaking. I want you to leave everything and go to the land I will show you.” “Where’s that?” “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.” “Try me.” “It’s 1500 miles from here in a place called Canaan.” “Never heard of it.” “I know, and guess what else?” “What?” “I’m going to make you the father of a great nation.” “That’s impossible. I don’t have any children.” “Don’t worry.” “What do you mean, don’t worry?” “Just trust me.” “Let me see if I’ve got this straight. You want me to leave everything, travel across the desert to someplace I’ve never heard of, and become the father of a great nation.” “Right.” “Is this some kind of joke?” “No.”
Hebrews 11:8 says: “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”
Consequently, the whole world was blessed because of Abraham’s faithfulness. Abraham became rich and prosperous, not only spiritually, but in every other way, too. The Bible says of Job,
“After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part.” Job 42:1-12
What that tells me is that your best days are still ahead of you. 2020 has great things in store for you. There may be challenges and trials and certainly there will be temptation. But God is going to be there – so the best is yet to come. “God will not lead us where He cannot keep us”. Bank on that. Trust in Him. And respond to the call God has on your life. Be willing to change and become anything God wants you to be. This New Year be totally surrendered to God. Allow Him to purify your heart and mind and actions. Give Him permission to break your will and shape your spirit. This is going to be a grand adventure – and it will result in awesome blessings.
