Go . . . to the land I will show you. . . . So Abram went. Genesis 12:1, 4
When my friend Janice was asked to manage her department at work after just a few years, she felt overwhelmed. Praying over it, she felt God was prompting her to accept the appointment—but still, she feared she couldn’t cope with the responsibility. “How can I lead with so little experience?” she asked God. “Why put me here if I’m going to be a failure?”
Later, Janice was reading about God’s call of Abram in Genesis 12 and noted that his part was to “go . . . to the land [God] will show you. . . . So Abram went” (vv. 1, 4). This was a radical move, because nobody uprooted like this in the ancient world. But God was asking him to trust Him by leaving everything he knew behind, and He would do the rest. Identity? You’ll be a great nation. Provision? I’ll bless you. Reputation? A great name. Purpose? You’ll be a blessing to all peoples on earth. He made some big mistakes along the way, but “by faith Abraham . . . obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).
This realization took a big burden off Janice’s heart. “I don’t have to worry about ‘succeeding’ at my job,” she told me later. “I just have to focus on trusting God to enable me to do the work.” As God provides the faith we need, may we trust Him with all our lives.
The Call of Abram
12 1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s householdd to the lande I will show you.f
2 “I will make you into a great nation,g
and I will bless you;h
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.a i
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;j
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.k”b
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lotl went with him. Abram was seventy-five years oldm when he set out from Harran.n
5 He took his wife Sarai,o his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulatedp and the peopleq they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,r and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the lands as far as the site of the great tree of Moreht at Shechem.u At that time the Canaanitesv were in the land.
7 The Lord appeared to Abramw and said, “To your offspringc I will give this land.x”y So he built an altar there to the Lord,z who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethela and pitched his tent,b with Bethel on the west and Aic on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.d
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.e
INSIGHT
- What worries do you have about your responsibilities?
- How is God asking you to trust Him in your present circumstances?
The Hebrew phrase translated “go” (Genesis 12:1) is literally “go to yourself.” While difficult to translate, this emphatic command is perhaps captured more closely by the King James translation: “Get thee out.”
The promises given to Abraham—land, abundant children, and blessing (vv. 2–3, 7)—echo the consequences of Adam and Eve’s fall—exile from the garden, difficult childbirth, and difficulty cultivating the land (3:16–24). These parallels hint that God would begin His plan to undo the consequences of the fall through this couple, through whom “all peoples on earth” would “be blessed” (12:3).
PRAYER
Dear God, I want to surrender to You my fears and worries about succeeding in my roles and responsibilities. Please help me to do my part as You do Yours. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: Genesis 12:1-9 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: Isaiah 37-38; Colossians 3
