“Ok. Pack your stuff. You’re going on a trip.”
“What?!?!? To where?”
“Just pack. You leave soon.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just pack.”
“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1 NIV)
“Seriously?! Just pack and travel for some unknown amount of time to some unknown place??”
So they set off – Abram, his wife, his nephew, and all the people and possessions he had accumulated.
“They set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.” (Genesis 12:5 NIV)
Just like that?
They left and they arrived?
Sometimes the Bible’s sense of timing is …. concise.
Pause for a moment to think of what traveling on foot with all your possessions and herds of goats and sheep would have been like in the mostly arid and hot climates of the Middle East. Dust. Heat. Smells. Boring days. Monotony broken only by occasional travelers passing by, predators to defend against, or bad guys to contend with. How long did it take for them to “arrive” after they had “set out?”
One of the fashionable things to say today is that we are all on a journey. While true, it is too simplistic to take into account the realities of what some journeys are like. Sometimes you start in one direction and God’s path takes you into a very different place from where you thought you were going. Sometimes the road is much more difficult than we expected – or much, much longer. Sometimes we find ourselves launched into a journey that is so immersed in God’s Spirit/Presence/Anointing that the journey is full of joy!
Sometimes we set out on a road because God calls us to it. Then we walk. We travel. We go.
Where to? Where God calls. How long? When it’s time. How far? However far it takes.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu
Just
Keep
Walking
Guiding God,
Thank you for your calling on each of our lives. Help us to hear your voice and respond to your Spirit’s direction. Help us to seek out your Good Way so we find your peace and joy. Give us faith to trust you. Give us patience as we walk out the steps you have set before us. And keep us moving forward toward our eternity with you. We pray in Jesus’s name, Amen.
“Ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16 NIV)