I have been thinking a lot about Old Testament Abraham and his original call from God when he was called Abram. It’s written done in the book of Genesis chapter 12.

“The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1, NIV).

What follows is God’s famous promise to make Abraham into a great nation: what many biblical scholars refer to as the Abrahamic covenant.

Abraham’s response is simple: “So Abram left, as the LORD had told him . . . ” (Genesis 12:4, NIV).

When we read this Scripture passage, we can quickly forget that God left out a lot of details about Abram’s transition– that is, until we are facing our own call to a new land.

Then we start to question things.

God, when am I leaving? I don’t remember you telling me that. What? Now?! But I haven’t even packed up my stuff. I haven’t said good-bye to my friends. I haven’t sold my house. I don’t have a job. And, oh yeah, where exactly am I going anyway? I mean, I know You said “the land I will show you,” but that’s really vague, God.

I suspect that Abram was in a really good place in his relationship with God. He had been trained in that desert to trust the LORD. Perhaps he even sensed a shift coming. When God finally said, “Go!” Abram was ready, with U-haul in tow.

Are you ready? If God were to ask you to do something extraordinary even when you didn’t know most of those important details, would you willingly obey? Would you have the faith to move and start over if the LORD asked you to?

This is a tall order. But if God asks, we know that He has good plans in store for us. We can trust that He will keep His promises, even as He kept those promises with Abraham.

God works in mysterious ways, as they say.

Let this be our new attitude in those times of shifting, during those times when God wants to do a new thing: OK, God, show us the open road. Lead us to our next destination.

– Laura J. Bagby