October 30
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Hebrews 11:8
Abraham didn’t know where he was going — he just started moving. Most of us in his position would say, ‘Father, I know You’re calling me to leave Ur, and I’ll be happy to go as soon as You give me a map of Mesopotamia.’
But the Lord doesn’t work that way in the arena of faith. ‘Start moving one step at a time,’ He says. ‘I’ll direct you, but I will not give you directions for Step 2 until you first take Step 1. A step of faith is the prerequisite for a man or woman to be used by God. He’s looking for those who will come to the Jordan and get their feet wet (Joshua 3:15).
My tendency, however, is to say, ‘Here I am, Lord. Right near the edge, just like You told me to be. Now, Lord, this ark is important cargo. You don’t want to see it get dropped in the river and carried downstream, do You? That’s not practical. So in order to help You protect Your good name, whenever You part the water, I’ll be thrilled to go across. Here I am, Your man of faith, ready to serve You on the spot.’
But without faith, it’s impossible to please God. ‘Why?’ you ask. ‘Why does God take me to the edge of the Jordan, tell me to put my foot in, and risk me looking like a fool or the ark floating down the river? I don’t get it.’
Guess what? You will — because faith is the lingua franca of eternity. God’s not saying, ‘I’m going to put you to the test for the fun of it. Let’s see if you step in or not.’ The Father has no joy in seeing His kids agonize at the edge of the Jordan. ‘If this causes you agony,’ He says, ‘it’s because you yet need to become a man of faith. After all, it’s who you are in the arena of faith that will affect how I will use you in the next billion years to come.’
You see, gang, if you take eternity out of the equation, the whole thing seems like a bad joke. But once you understand that this whole deal on earth is to train and stretch, develop and mature you for heaven and the ages to come, then you start looking at everything in that way. ‘OK, Father,’ you’ll say, ‘this is a stretch for me. It’s uncomfortable. It’s not easy. But You told me to be like Abraham, so even if I don’t know where I’m going, I trust You.’
This Daily Devotional is an excerpt from the book "A Days Journey" by Pastor Jon. "A Days Journey" is a collection of 365 short devotions from the New Testament.
