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Calling & Obedience

Portions of scripture seem to skip over some very helpful things. Now, don't brand me as a heretic. Work with me on this. For example, in Genesis 12 God shows up and tells Abram to pack his stuff and move to another country — and he does. That's right, the very next verse says, "He went ..." Wait, what about the list of pros and cons? What about the time-to-pray-about-it weekend retreat? Or, what about the conversation that must have happened between Abram and his wife, Sarai? That would have been great to hear.

Abram: "Pack up we're leaving."

Sarai: "Oh! Where are we going?"

Abram: "Don't know."

Sarai: "How will we know when we get there?"

Abram: "Don't know."

Sarai: "Who's going with us?"

Abram: "Everyone and take everything."

Sarai: "Wait, all the herds, all the animals, all the servants, all the family …"

Abram: "And Lot and all his family and herds …"

Sarai: "And we don't know where we're headed?"

Abram: "Right."

Sounds rational, right? Hah! But they went anyway. They followed God, and they were completely obedient to Him in doing so

In this instance, Abram has lessons to teach us, not only about obedience, but the question, "Why me, God?" We need to keep in mind that context matters. Back up a couple chapters in Genesis and you will learn more about Abram's context and where he came from.

Noah builds a boat, saves the animals, and then, when he is talking to God at the end of the ordeal, God makes a covenant with him. Because of his obedience, God will not destroy the earth again with water. Then we get a long list of descendents linking Noah to Abram's family. In these passages we learn a lot about the promise generations lived under before Abram even showed up on the scene. Right in the middle of the genealogy linking Noah to Abram, however, we hear about the Tower of Babel. Like so many of us, Noah's descendants began to think they could do it on their own. They built the tower because they wanted to "make a name for themselves." God saw their disobedience and scattered them across the earth.

Along comes Abram. The blessing that Abram receives in Genesis 12 is very important to that context as well. God says He will make Abram a great nation. He promises that Abram will be a blessing to those around him for ages to come. The Hebrew word we translate "blessing" in these passages is important because it signifies that the one being blessed is a "pipe," not a "bucket." Let me explain. Often we think of God's blessings as being poured into us and filling us up, as if we are buckets. The word that gets translated "blessing" here, however, connotes God's gifts being poured through us and on to others, as if we're pipes. God blesses Abram, then sends him on his way so that others will be blessed through him.

Alright; the question rolling around your brain right is, "What about me and my calling?" Answer: three simple, yet tough words — obedience, submission and surrender. I know. Every sermon seems to be about one of these words. That's because they're essential to following God's will for your life. C.T. Studd said the hardest prayer we can pray is, "Lord make me willing to be made willing to do Your will." Read that again, slowly.

It is about our attitude, about doing what God has already told us to do. Abram sets the tone from the very beginning. God says go and he goes.

Where has God told you go? And why haven't you taken off yet?