LEAVE, TRUST, BLESS

LEAVE, TRUST, BLESS

When has God told you something illogical or scary? What did you do when it happened? (Genesis 12:1-4)

Abram—son of Terah. (End of chapter 11) Had left home, Ur of Chaldees with father and wife and nephew, Lot. Settled for a while in Haran—Terah died. Were on their way to Canaan before.

Now God comes to Abram. Leave your country, people and father’s household. Where? Didn’t say yet. Leave—all that is familiar—all comforts you have—even family members behind.

1) At times, God tells us to leave our comforts behind to follow Him. What most gives you security? What do you cherish most? What do you count on more than anything else—even God? Leave it all behind!

The challenge for the believer is to follow God above everything else—to cherish God above all else—to trust God above everything.

“But where God?”

2) Go to the land I will show you—For Abraham, they went in the direction that they had been going before—with his father—toward Canaan.

Henry Blackaby says in Experiencing God, “when you are not sure where the next step of God’s will is, you follow the last thing God told you, until God closes that door.” You pursue God in the same directions until God changes the plan.

Now, you have to be sure that is God’s plan and not just that you are getting comfortable—the easies—the path with the least problems. But you also have to note that sometimes, God uses the problems to move you into another path—a path with more challenges, but also more rewards.

We often do not have the whole plan at the time—but God wants us to trust Him on the journey—trust Him above knowing the plan—knowing where—knowing the next step. We have to trust God—not ourselves. We have to trust God—not our comfort. We have to trust God for the next step and the next breath in life. “Go to the land I will show you.” As you move along, God will show you when He wants you to “stop and sit a spell.”

Blackaby says “to know God’s will, you have to seek to know God. We need to know God more than to know His will.”

In Jeremiah, we find this: Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me,” (Jeremiah 9:23-24, NIV)

Would you say that you know God? Have to keep seeking God—keep reading His Word and praying and obeying to come to know God personally.

3) Trusting God will bring blessing.
a. Some of that blessing will be for you—“I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great.”
b. But part of that blessing is for the benefit of others—“You will be a blessing –on peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Certainly for Abram, this meant the Jewish race and Jesus the Messiah, who would come to bless the world.
i. Notice the blessing is not just for you—you are to be a blessing to others. Song, “Blessed to Be a Blessing.”
ii. If you being blessed but not being a blessing to others, that is sin—that is wrong—that is not God’s intention. Song—“Is Your Life a Channel of Blessing?”
c. The blessing comes as we trust God and obey Him. The blessings come as we leave and go where God tells us.
d. The blessing does not come when we are disobedient—for us or for others. Who should be blessed because of your life?

God told Abram to leave comfort and security and home behind. God told Abram to trust Him for the next step—trust Him along the way—Trust Him above everything else. And God told Abram for doing that—he would be blessed AND be a blessing to others also.

4) So Abram left, as the LORD had told him.

Could we say that of you? Did you leave it behind for God? Did you trust God above all comfort and security? As God has blessed you, have you been a blessing to others?

Could be a new task within the church God wants you to do. Could be a new way of doing something that God has not shown you yet. Could be tithing or making a new friend to cultivate for Christ. Could be to invite neighbors to your home to make friends. Could be to make time to get acquainted with some of the Hispanics in our community. Could be—you fill in the blank.

That is discipleship—that is following Jesus—that is making disciples of all nations—that is passing along what you have learned to faithful people who will pass it along to other faithful people.

What is God saying to you today?