At first glance, God's call to Abram doesn't seem so spectacular. The Lord told Abram, “Get thee out of thy country … unto a land that I will shew thee.” Like others since him, Abram and his wife were going to move. But Abram's situation was much different from those before or since him. He was not forced to move because of political oppression. Neither was he required to move because of military aggression. He didn't even move because of an economic recession. Neither was his move due to spiritual persecution. Instead, he was going to move because God told him to. Furthermore, his situation was different because God didn't tell him in advance where he was going.
Abram, who would later be renamed Abraham, believed the unbelievable. To leave home without any other prompting than God's call was unthinkable. When we read the story, we fail to appreciate what Abram did. Imagine the following conversation:
HUSBAND: Wife, we are moving.
WIFE: Where are we moving to?
HUSBAND: I don't know.
WIFE: You don't know?
HUSBAND: No.
WIFE: Why are we moving? Are we being forced out?
HUSBAND: No, we are moving simply because God told us to.
WIFE: God told you to? And He didn't tell you where we are going?
I think you catch the drift of this conversation. If you were to have the same conversation with your spouse, there would be a great deal of tension wouldn't there? Now you understand how great Abram's faith really was. Consider Abram and his reaction to God's demand.
First of all, Abram was on speaking terms with God. He heard God's call. It was clear. It was unmistakable. It was undeniable. Yet for a human, the call seemed unbelievable. It would not be the last time God would speak to Abram. God still speaks through His Word. Are we listening?
Also, Abram obeyed God. He simply did what God commanded him to do. Think about this for a moment. God commanded him to do something that made no earthly sense. Yet He believed that God knew what He was doing. He believed that God should be obeyed. Later, He believed God for the unbelievable again when he was told that his wife would bear him a son, even when she was past child bearing age. Even later, when this child grew, Abraham would be commanded to offer his only son as a sacrifice. You know what Abraham did? Exactly what God told him to do. It was an unbelievable demand, yet He believed God. At the last moment, God intervened and provided a ram as a sacrifice instead of Isaac. Over and over again, Abraham believed God for the unbelievable.
Abraham was a difference maker whose influence is still being felt today. His legacy is amazing, including millions of decedents. Because Abraham believed the unbelievable, God honored him, including him in the great hall of fame of Faith, Hebrews 11. Abraham was a difference maker because God made a difference through his life.
The journey Abram began in Genesis 12 seemed to have no end. Yet Hebrews 11:10 tells us that Abraham, “... looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” The city that Abraham went looking for was not here on earth. His real home was in heaven. If you are a follower of Christ, we are told that one day we will sit down and dine with Abraham in heaven. Abraham had left behind all worldly possessions in search of something infinitely better. He now enjoys it.
God still requires people to believe the unbelievable. It is unbelievable that a virgin would conceive and have a child. It is unbelievable that this child would be God in the flesh. It is unbelievable that He would grow up to live a perfect life and perform great miracles. It is unbelievable that He loved us so much that He ultimately went to a cross and died, paying our sin debt. It is unbelievable that He'd rise again the third day. It is unbelievable that He'd ascend back to heaven and there would make intercession for us. It is unbelievable that He is coming again for all who believe in Him. It is unbelievable that He will take us to heaven, where we'll abide with Him forever.
God calls us to believe the unbelievable today. Do you believe?
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