The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you … 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him.
- from Genesis 12:1, 4
 
The Lord said “Go,” so Abram went.
 
Such a simple start to such a great adventure. God doesn’t give a lot of detail about where Abram is going, how long it will take to get there, or what the country will be like. God does make Abram a promise (which we’ll explore tomorrow), but the destination remains mysterious.
 
Have you ever felt like God has done this to you?
 
“Do this,” says God. “But why and, while you’re at it, how will it work it?” we reply. We unleash an avalanche of ‘Whys’ and ‘Hows’ and bury God’s simple command and, along with it, our simple obedience.
 
‘Go’ and ‘went’ aren’t complicated. They’re quite simple, actually. Abram (and we) start moving and God starts steering. But ‘simple’ doesn’t equal ‘easy.’ We’re tiptoeing here on the edge of a great paradox. Can you feel it? ‘Go’ can be quite difficult, challenging, and scary.
 
GK Chesterton captured this beautifully in his What’s Wrong with the World: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
 
Abram received the difficult word from the Lord and gave it a try. He started moving. And God started steering. And history rocked in their wake.
 
What will we do when we receive these difficult invitations from God: ‘go,’ ‘tell,’ ‘forgive,’ ‘persevere,’ ‘serve,’ ‘love’? Our inner control freak screams for more details. We won’t move a step until we know more!!! But God stands quiet. His invitation stands. It’s our turn to respond. What will we do?
 
Take a moment today to see if there’s an outstanding invitation from God to you. Where has God called you to go? Where is he inviting you to take a leap of faith?