Then the LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.” 

So Abram left, as the LORD had told him... (Genesis 12:1, 4a).

Sometimes the harder thing is when God's word is “Stay,” as in Stay and I will bless My people with a better recovery from this virus.

In Abram's case, God's word was “Go.” We wonder...was it a hard word for him to take in? Did he immediately begin to pack up and head out or did he drag his feet?

What we do know is that at some point “Abram left, as the LORD had told him.”

The LORD had told him a lot. He was to leave his country, his people, his father's household and go to a land God would show him. Then came a listing of what the LORD would do, ending with the promise that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him (Gen.12:2-3).

There is a great deal of uncertainty in both “Stay at home to wait out the virus” and “Go to a new land.”  For people big into certain—which includes maybe everybody?—either sounds unsettling.

So what convinces Abram, or us, to act?

Obviously there must be something unique and compelling (alluring, engaging, riveting) about God's voice. After all, Abram didn't live among a people who knew God, let alone expected communication from Him.

We live among such people too. Maybe we were—or still are—such people.

Yet there may have been a time we heard God's compelling voice in our own heart. We knew that our little brain had not come up with such thoughts. (For although God's voice speaks in our minds and can resemble our voice, His content and delivery is way more compelling!)

It is hard to convey that experience to others, though, isn't it?

Abram's way of conveying it was to act—to leave his old life and head for a new land. A new life. A life through which others would be blessed.

We likewise convey our experience of hearing God as we let His message propel us in a new direction.  The process of hearing, and then leaving our status quo, deepens our trust in God. People begin to see and be impacted by our positive change, be it small or great. Gradually ours—like Abram's—becomes a life through which others are blessed.

Thank You, Father, for Abram/Abraham through whom You bless us still. We ask that You open our ears to hear Your voice, our hearts to receive Your messages, and our eyes to see as You lead us, also, to new land on this journey through life.