Pray First

Read Genesis 12:1-4

Go, Team, go! Go get me some coffee, please. Go to bed. Go Dog Go was a fun Dr. Suess book on repeat in our household for many years. “Ready, set, go!” would send my two-year-old grandson running and giggling across the room as fast as his little legs could paddle. 

Go!—a full sentence yet so brief. It’s an imperative sentence, meaning that it’s necessary or urgent.  

As defined by Grammarhow.com, “Imperatives are commanding words. We can use verbs to command someone to do something in the imperative case. It’s common for imperative sentences to have only one word because it shows the emphasis and need of someone to follow whatever command you are giving.”  

God told Abram to go. Abram was born in the ancient town of Ur and later moved with his father and family to Haran. Somewhere along the way, God said to him, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you,” (Gen 12:1 ESV). God doesn’t explain to him why he should leave but gives him quite a list of promises. We’re able to understand now because we have all of scripture to teach us about God’s ways. The entire nation of Israel would come from Abram. According to Matthew Henry’s commentary on Christianity.com, all the blessings of the whole world now and to come are because of Abram and his lineage. “Through them we have a Bible, a Saviour, and a gospel. They are the stock on which the Christian church is grafted.”

What comes to your mind when you hear the word go? 

Go… get the groceries—sometimes a daunting task. 

Go… take a meal to a friend or a homeless person–oooo that one may be a little uncomfortable. 

Go…to church–maybe you haven’t been in a long time, or you had a bad experience.

Go…to the doctor–nah, I’m sure I’ll get better on my own.

Go…to college, or seminary, or medical school, or online school–who, me?

Go…visit a friend. Go…on a mission trip. Go…seek counseling.

I don’t know about you, but when God says go to me, I don’t rush to put on my sneakers and head to the door. I don’t grab my keys, get in the jeep, and take off. I don’t book an airline ticket, and I don’t hop on the bus. I’m pretty sure I look up at God like my Labrador Retriever looks at me when I tell her to go lay down. I sense a huh sort of response from the way she looks at me. Or “did you really mean that?” 

God told Abram to go. He didn’t tell him where, but He gave him the promise of an end result. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you,” (Gen. 12:2 ESV). 

So Abram looked up at God and said, “Huh?”…”Who, me?”… “Why?”…“Where?” Of course that wasn’t Abram’s response.  

“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him,” (Gen. 12:4 ESV). Some biblical scholars believe it may have taken Abram five years to leave his family and obey God’s call to go, but he did go. When God calls us, it often takes a bit of time and prayer to figure out what He’s really saying. It may take courage to leave your family or to separate yourself from a sinful situation, your own or that of those around you. It may take some time to trust that God will take care of you, equip you, and provide for you.  

As Jesus called each of his disciples, he was calling them to step into some deep, unknown waters. They thought they were following a military hero to conquer Rome. Some were leaving behind a career that provided for themselves and their family. Some were stepping into a group that would find it difficult to accept them. Some of Jesus’s followers came from a sordid past. None of them, despite Old Testament prophecy, really understood the commitment they were agreeing to or what would be required of them. But the more they grew to know their Lord, the more certain they became of the journey with him, no matter what they would face. 

Regardless of whether or not we feel qualified or equipped to follow where God leads us, we can trust Him to provide for us when we say yes to His calling. Paul writes, “There is nothing in us that allows us to claim that we are capable of doing this work. The capacity we have comes from God; it is he who made us capable of serving,” (2 Cor 3:5-6 GNT). 

We can trust Him to guide our steps: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119:105 ESV).  

When we’re weak or facing impossible situations, He gives us strength: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong,” (2 Cor 12:10 ESV). 

Are we, like Abram and the disciples, willing to go when God calls? Sometimes God simply wants us to start with something small, the everyday sort of things. Say hello to someone in the checkout line just because you feel a nudge in your heart. Serve a meal at the homeless shelter just because you think of it.  Start an online class because you’re feeling a desire in your heart to take that step. Practice saying yes when God nudges you. His word is a lamp to your feet; take the next step that lights up on your path. 

Let Him take you farther than you ever thought you could go. Then watch and see what He will do!

What is the go God is calling you to? 

Worship Song: Oceans by Hillsong United 

 

Find Tracy on Facebook at Tracy Fields Todd, Writer, and on Instagram at @tracyftodd.