October 28, 2010, Hebrews 11

Key Verse:

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”

(Hebrews 11:8)

Central Truth:

God doesn’t always reward you right away, nor does he print out all the directions at once.

WHICH WAY DO WE GO ?

God doesn’t always make sense. There. I’ve said it. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but in all honesty, sometimes what God asks us to do seems completely ridiculous. I mean really, parting a sea with a staff? Building an ark to save one family and the entire population of animals? A teenage virgin giving birth to His son? To our limited understanding these things are outlandish, Hollywood plot lines. To God they are specifically crafted plans created to bring us to perfection in faith. (v. 40)

The good thing here is that God does not require us to understand why or even what. All He wants is our obedience in these things. He calls us to a specific purpose, each one of us. Every one of the people in this chapter was designed specifically by God to do what only they could do. So are you. Noah built an ark, Jochebed laid her baby in a basket, Moses led God’s people. All by faith.

About five years ago, God used Hebrews 11:8 specifically in our lives. We were content and happy serving in a local church. I loved the people I worked with, had built relationships with them, and they were my family. God saw our comfort (aka complacency) and began to use verse eight to call us out. We thought He was sending us back to Michiganjobless; then we thought He was calling me out of teaching Sunday school, but really He wanted us to pick up and move. I asked God, where? He just said go. In a heart wrenching fight, with me dragging my feet and clawing my way out, He continued to lay this verse in front of us. Everywhere. I couldn’t get away from it. We visited another church and the pastor actually used this verse to teach about God calling us to move!

So, without knowing where we were to go, we resigned our places of ministry and left our church. God hadn’t given us step by step directions like MapQuest (don’t you wish He would!?). I kept trying to focus on the part that talked about receiving the inheritance later. If Abraham could get up and leave all his family and start wandering until God told him to stop, then we had to trust that He would tell us where to stop as well. He did. The first Sunday we visited Piedmont. God said, “Stay here.”

The people in this chapter aren’t really any different from me or you. They just believed that God would do what He said He would. They didn’t always know where God was going to lead them, and it wasn’t always easy (hardly ever!). The main thing is that they went when God said “Go.”

Where are you going?