Welcome to day 9 of our 40 day challenge! Today, we are in Genesis 12:1-4a.

(You can catch up on our Intro, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8 if you missed them)

Genesis 12:1-4a

The Call of Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

² “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
³ I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him

Go… to a land I will show you. This is the verse that brought us to Mexico. It was a series of nudges and confirmations, as we listened and discerned and kep our hearts open and willing.

We began with a sense that we were supposed to go somewhere. As soon as we brought this up, it became so immediately underscored by the Holy Spirit that we knew we were going somewhere, just not where or when or why. We knew just saying yes was the first step.

Then, go to a land I will show you, began showing up everywhere we went. It was on fliers in the mail. On new billboards put up in town, in casual conversations, and on long drives in the middle of nowhere. Each step of the way, the Lord sprinkled in this verse.

In the middle of this process, friends of Jack’s that he hadn’t seen in decades showed up at our church one Sunday and invited us to come visit them. They were planting a church and looking for a pastor, and thought the happenstance meeting might be the Lord choosing Jack. Jack said he had long since understood his gifting was teaching, not pastoring, but we were discerning the land I will show you, so he agreed to go and see and pray.

While we were there, we stayed in their guest house, which also had their lending library. People in the community would bring a book to leave before taking one. So I looked through and picked a book that looked interesting. Out of thousands. Inside it was a bookmark with this verse. I remember sitting in stunned silence before showing Jack. I had to go look through loads of books just to confirm that the same bookmark wasn’t in all of them.

The last time this verse came to us was a few weeks after we had arrived in Mexico. The place we were staying had been one answered prayer after another, so we knew the Lord was in it. A few weeks after arriving, we really wanted to attend a local church away from the tourist areas. And the property manager invited us to his church. Neither of us knew much Spanish at this point. We sat in the pews and, imagine our surprise when the pastor began preaching on this very verse. That for us was the final confirmation that we were where we were supposed to be.

We can look at Abraham’s life and see how the Lord led him each step of the way. We can see his missteps and his faithfulness. I can look back on mine and see the same. From the future, the path looks clear and even obvious at times. But as we were walking it, we were mostly clueless the majority of the way. We just kept doing the next thing we thought the Lord was telling us to do. And I still feel that way today. I still get most promptings little by little, but I have two more decades of trusting the Lord. We have a pretty good track record together, Him and I. And so even though I love a plan all laid out, I’m content to walk one step at a time with Him.

Looking back, the destination wasn’t even the point. It was being willing to follow the Lord wherever. It was growing closer to Him and to each other through the process, and trusting Him to make it all work. We knew our lives would be changed by this. And, it wasn’t just our lives that were changed, but so many more because of it. It’s incredible what can happen just following the Lord, one step after another.

The Lord can get you to where you need to be. And He has dozens, maybe hundreds, of ways to do it. What matters is our hearts as we follow Him. Are we willing? Will we take the first step even if we have no idea what the next one is

Options for further  journaling or discussion throughout the challenge:

• Choose a part of the passage to write out by hand. Writing by hand helps us slow down and focus on what the Lord might highlight for us in the passage. Our brains can focus and remember better by writing than just reading alone.
• Journal about what the passage brings to mind. Does the passage tell us anything about God? Does it tell us anything about our response to Him?
• Does your heart respond in gratitude to any part of the passage? Write or pray your gratitude to the Lord.

We’ll see you tomorrow, for Day 10, and John 3:1-17

♥ Samantha