Genesis 12.1-3 1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your
native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land
that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you
and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those
who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on
earth will be blessed through you.” (NLT)
These are the first words recorded of any conversation
God had with Abram (Abraham). We might call it a preamble. I don’t know what you do with a statement like that! I
don’t want to make Abram into a modern like us, but I do want to look at what any person might do if they heard such a
word as what the Lord said to Abram. That’s a big statement.
God didn’t say this to Abram because Abram was someone
special; He said this to him because he believed (see Romans 4). One doesn’t
need to be a special person to interact with the Living God, one only need
believe. And that is exactly what Abram did, he believed.
We say big things to our children. We tell them about
what to expect in life. We urge them toward their dreams and try to help them
along the way. We do this and watch them fail repeatedly. We see such great
potential in them and expect (if ever so secretly) that they’ll have a perfect
life – one different from ours – and never have a cloudy day (or some other
such nonsense). We want them to succeed. We don’t give up, but we do watch them
fail.
God wanted Abram to succeed and he did despite himself. It’s
one thing to urge someone on; it’s another to watch them grow into a success
(however we define success). God gave Abram words that were possibly bigger
that Abram could handle. God knew that. But God also knew that Abram’s life
would be a blessing to others as life’s hard-knocks chipped away at the self-image
Abram held. Abram like all of us needed to be seasoned by life in order to live
into the statement God made about him.
God speaks big things to us. Any kind of hanging out in
the Bible reveals that God has big plans for us – plans that may be too big for
us to handle at the moment, but plans nonetheless. That’s who God is and why He
deals with us men the way He does. The key in life is to get to know God so
that we can get to know His plans. And then we live – by trial and error – into
those plans (whatever they may be).
It boils down to
this: God. God’s plans for me have little to do with me but everything to
do with Him. I need to believe that and trust Him. Were God to sit me down and
say to me what He said to Abram I might take it as something I need to do. But
God only desired Abram go along with the
plan, not to carry it out himself. The One who makes us a blessing to
others is the One who does what He does through the one(s) who believe. My job
is to believe. Period. And no matter how unbelievable it gets at times, I am
still to believe. Just like Abram.
Father, 2014 lays before me like life did for Abram that
day You spoke Your word to him. He believed You. And so do I that You are up to
something in my life for this year and beyond. Help me to rest in what You say
and not manufacture something all on my own. And may I be a blessing to others
because of what You say and how I live in response to that – Amen.
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