Stars, Hearts and Trust on your Journey
Imagine you are 75 years old …. can you imagine leaving your home, job, extended family and friends, based on God’s call to go…? If God said the same things to you that He said to Abram, can you imagine trusting, believing and uprooting yourself to go …. where? … for how long? … to do what?
Abram was told to ‘Go out from your land, your relatives and your father’s house to the land that I will show you’ and if that is not ‘out of the box’ enough, he was also told “I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” (Gen 12:2)
Such a radical call with so many unknowns. How do we live as God has called, in these very disturbing times when allegiance to Him and His way can bring retribution, negative consequences and lead to being cancelled?
God’s call and grace forces us to wrestle with our beliefs, values, behaviour, habits and allegiances. Abram had the same challenges in an idolatrous culture. He heard, responded and believed God’s call and then learnt through many experiences that God deals with us with grace, giving us hope through keeping His promises.
For example, during his journey a famine caused Abram to travel to Egypt. Because Sarai was so beautiful, he was fearful that he would be killed for being her husband and told her to say she was his sister. God sent plagues on Pharoah’s house because of that lie and Abram was forced to tell the truth. Abram was trying to manage the situation, but he learnt that God is quite able to handle things Himself and doesn’t want us to act out of our ‘fears’, rather to trust Him.
Again Abram had the opportunity to trust God by telling King Abimelech that Sarai was his wife, but he listened to his fear and said that she was his sister. This time God warned the King, making him furious with Abram.
Another opportunity was when, after 20 years, Abram feared the promised child wouldn’t come. Sarai offered her servant and instead of telling her that God would provide, he agreed to sleep with the servant to bear a child trusting himself rather than God.
It would be easy to judge Abram – hearing God, trusting and believing but then fearing and failing, over and over again. It’s easy to judge people around us too. Yet how often do we do the same. How often do we decide to trust Jesus, only to weaken, bow to our fears, and try to resolve the situation ourselves? God understands feelings of fear will come, but asks us to live courageously in His strength and grace rather than by fear.
Sarah Young, in “Jesus Calling”, suggests that Jesus often sends lessons of trust wrapped in difficulties, but the benefits are much greater than the cost. [1]
When Abram experienced lessons of trust, instead of rebuking him, God gave grace: “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.” God then took him outside saying, “look at the sky and count the stars if you are able to count them. Your offspring will be that numerous.” (Gen 15:5)
Jesus does the same with us through lessons of trust – a grace journey of our hearts, to give us hope. He wants us to do the same for others, journey with and be grace givers.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths.” (Prov 3:5-6)
Abram, like many others in the Bible, learnt by experience the benefits of living this way. At 99 years of age, God reaffirmed His promise and changed their names to Abraham (father of many nations) and Sarah. “Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.” (Gen 21:5-6)
Fear leads to sin.
Grace leads to blessing.
Fear causes pain and hurt.
Grace yields laughter.[2]
This month as you are embraced by His grace and empowered by the Holy Spirit may you live and share your faith and hope, extending His grace to all in our school communities, staff and school families. May you be known by your life of grace embodied in hope, inspiring trust in our Almighty God.
[1] Sarah Young, (2004), Jesus Calling, Harper Collins Christian Publishing Inc.
[2] Gary Chapman and Chris Fabry. (2013) Extraordinary Grace: How the Unlikely Lineage of Jesus Reveals God’s Amazing Love. Moody Publishers Chicago. 39