THE NEXT STEP IS ENOUGH

 

September 14, 2023

 

Genesis 12:1-4

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

 

Genesis 17:1-9

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.” Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility.

 

Psalms 119:105 

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

 

 

When I was young I was told that God “has a plan for your life”? You too? I am not that little child any more, I have learned something about God’s purposes and plans. Here is the key thing I have learned: God’s plan isn’t as complicated as we often think.

Today we read from the Old Testament, a snippet of the story of Abram. Genesis 12:1 says God told Abram to leave his native land and go to a place that He would show him. Leaving your home and native land, for a place you haven’t even heard of yet? That sounds frightening and intimidating! I don’t know how that message sits with you if you were asked to do the Abram thing. For me, I know it would take me more than a couple verses to do what Abram did in response. In Genesis 12:4, it says that “… Abram departed as the Lord had instructed …”

What strikes me is that God never gave Abram the complete picture or blueprint, or a little map. Instead, God's instructions to Abram were focused on the very next thing He wanted him to do.

If you have read the Abram story, you likely know that because of his obedience, God later changed his name from Abram to Abraham, which means “father of many.” And Abraham went on to become the father of many nations! Abraham appears in Hebrews 11 in the often called Bible’s Faith Hall of Fame. “It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8)

Abram is a great example of someone who lived by faith, even when he could only see a part of God’s plan for his life. Abram certainly wasn’t perfect, but his life was full of moments of obeying God, even when, to most of us, it did not make sense.

You see, when it comes to God’s purpose and plan for our lives, that’s often how God works, speaking to us through His Word (the Bible) and providing us guidance for the next few steps in front of us. It has taken me a long time to discover that this is all God’s plan really is. It is a series of next steps we take in obedience to God.

Psalm 119:105 says that God’s Word is a lamp to guide our feet and a light to our path. This verse wasn’t talking about the type of lamp you have in your bedroom that lights up the whole room. Rather, this verse was referring to what would essentially be a small candle. It wouldn’t provide a lot of light, only enough to see what was straight in front of you.

Like Abram, God isn’t going to give us the full blueprint for our lives. If He did, we wouldn’t need to live by faith and trust in Him! God wants one step at a time of obedient following.

The way I have it figured is that things turned out alright for Father Abram/Abraham and it will for us as well.