Go to be Great
Read Time: 7 min 29 seconds
“Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you. Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, so that you will exemplify divine blessing. I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name.” So Abram left, just as the Lord had told him to do, and Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.)”
Genesis 12:1-4 NET
Can you believe that God has called you to greatness? The book of Galatians touches on it a lot. Paul argues that those who believe are sons of Abraham and that the blessing of Abraham has been brought to them through Christ. You’re a part of this story. We are a part of the blessed nation through which all the families of the earth would be blessed. We are a part of the great name Abraham was called to embrace. We are too called to exemplify God's blessing, but here's the catch. Many of us aren’t walking into that greatness because we’re afraid to leave what we’re comfortable with.
Abraham was promised an insane covenant with God. Not only would he be blessed and made into a great name, but everyone who blessed him would be blessed, and everyone who cursed him would be cursed. Everything he didn’t even know he needed would be provided, and he would be used by God in ways he could not even fathom. But this promise would be fulfilled after he left what he was comfortable with and committed to complete faith and dependence on God.
It’s one thing to obey God with clear instructions. It’s another thing to obey God when the instructions are as vague as vague gets. It would be crazy if God said to leave your family and job, and lifestyle to follow me into a specific place. But it’s a completely different animal to leave not just your home but your whole country as you wander with God towards no clear destination. Hebrews 11 says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8 NET). Can you trust God when you don’t get what He’s doing or where He’s going? Or are you too committed to staying in control?
It’s been said that God will either give you the destination without many details on the journey, so you have to trust Him on the journey, or tell you the journey without telling you the destination, so you’ll have to trust that what He is leading you to is worth it. In this story, Abraham knows he will be blessed, but that’s about it. He doesn’t know where he’s going or really even the first step to get there. Like, seriously, imagine God saying to quit your job and leave your country. When will I get another job? I don’t know. Where will I stay on the journey? How will it work out? I don’t know. Where am I going? I don’t know. How much will I make? I don’t know. Will I make friends? I don’t know. All I know is I’m following God, and that my blessing is on the other side of obedience.
Could it be that God wants to answer the prayers we didn’t even think to pray, but it’s on the other side of a move? Could it be that God wants to use us in ways we can’t imagine, but it’s on the other side of letting go of control? Could it be that our desire for comfort is keeping us bound, and our dedication to complacency is keeping us burdened? Could it be that the freedom, prosperity, peace, and sense of purpose you crave are sitting behind a door that only faith can open? Could it be that everything you’ve been praying for is on the other side of trust? What if greatness came after the go? Would you go?
Here are a few things I’d like to leave you from Abraham’s story as we employ the faith to go into greatness.
He’s not done with you
Abraham was 75 years old when God called him to this move. That’s significant because it’s often the older we get, the more sedentary we become. Many of us have come into full agreement with the idea that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but that can't be further from the truth of the life God called us to. Moses was called by God at 80. Joshua also started leading in his 80s. Daniel was likely around the same age when he was thrown into the lion's den. Noah was 500 when he became a father, and his kids were old enough to all be married by the time he built the ark. But you think you’re too old to be moved by God?
It's been said that people’s bodies start feeling old when they stop moving. You get stiff when you stop stretching. Your mind slows when you stop working it. Statistically, people die sooner when they stop working suddenly and retire with no sense of purpose, structure, or activity. Movement keeps you young. Mission keeps you healthy. In the same way, when faith fails to move, it atrophies and dies. When you don’t exercise faith, it dies. And that’s not what God intended for you.
Don’t take a Lot with you
The Bible says to strip off the weight that easily in snares and slows you down so that you can run the race God prepared for you with endurance. Abraham was called to do this, but didn’t fully commit. He was called to leave his family, but he brought his nephew Lot.
It may not seem like much, but the Bible says it’s the small foxes that ruin the harvest. The little things we let slide often compound into disaster. For Abraham, this fox was a nephew who led him into trouble, took his resources, and created conflict with his workers.
What people could you be bringing into your next season that God is telling you to let go of? They may mean well, but everyone won’t understand your journey. They may be loved and appreciated, but they may not be called into your next. What God calls you to is most vulnerable in its infancy. That’s why you can’t trust everyone with your vision right away. You can see that in the story of Joseph.
It's not just that people won’t get it. Everyone can’t see through their personal fears enough to respond to your faith. They’ll try to talk you out of your call. The Wright brothers' family was likely afraid of them getting hurt when they started making planes to fly. That’s why you need to be careful about who you allow in intimate spaces with you, especially when they aren’t called to the same thing. Don’t carry a Lot around with you because of comfort or so-called compassion. When God says go alone or with a small few, listen.
Be Willing to Pivot
Not only did God not give Abraham the destination outright, but the Bible also says they moved in stages. They would be led to one place, set up camp, and then be called to the next. Like the Israelites who would come after them, they’d travel little by little.
Abraham was born in Ur, but his father tried to move the family to Canaan and got stuck in Haran. Abraham then gets this call from God and starts walking southwest towards Canaan, and ends up in Shechem. He then goes south and parks between Bethel and Ai. After that, he moves some more and goes to Negev. Famine forces him to Egypt, and a fib gets him kicked out. After that, he goes back to the spot between Bethel and Ai before splitting with Lot and going east to Hebron.
It could feel like God is saying go west on Sunday, north on Monday, and rest on Tuesday before saying to go east on Wednesday and south on Thursday. It’s like when He told the Israelites at the Red Sea to stand still and watch before telling them to shut up and move forward. It could feel unnecessary or even contradictory, but God's path isn’t always as linear as we often imagine. Pits lead to palaces. Pastures lead to promise, and crosses lead to crowns. Even when we look at the story of God telling Abraham that he will be a father, then telling him to sacrifice his son, before telling him He was just kidding, it can seem like God is just wasting time. But it’s all a part of his plan to prepare us for the promise.
This doesn’t mean the spirit is schizophrenic; it means it’s sanctifying. It reminds me of the Israelites' journey out of Egypt. It was an 11-day journey, but it took them 40 years because God knew if He took them the short way, they wouldn’t learn what they would need to succeed in the land. Could it be that God took you from Houston to New York to LA, then to Philly and Chicago, before taking you to Dallas because He knew the transition from Houston to Dallas would be too easy for you? Every part of the journey has been weighed out and allowed to prepare you for the promise.
Listen
This is why we must learn to listen and obey God's voice. He is calling you to something amazing, and it’s on the other side of obedience. Faith is like a motion-activated door. Rivers part when you step into them. God won’t force you to follow. You have to employ faith to walk into favor.
Build the muscle of listening to the whisper instead of getting distracted by the wind. Don’t let your fears outweigh your faith. Don’t let the unknown stop you from walking into an answered prayer.
I think it’s interesting that Abraham’s dad tried to make it to where he made it to but got stuck. Did God ask him to do this first, but he stopped moving? Listen and don’t stop moving with God. Maybe you are called to accomplish what generations before you couldn’t? Greatness will come after you accept your call to go.
Where is God calling you?
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