Genesis 11:31-12:4 — And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

Whenever I go through a time of spiritual struggle I find myself returning to the principles that are at the core of my faith … trust and obedience. There are plenty of great role models to look at. There’s Noah, who went ahead and built his ark, even though the very idea of rain was a mystery. There’s Moses, who returned to Egypt to face down Pharaoh without knowing whether he might be called to account for the man he had killed. Or we might consider the people of Israel, who faithfully executed what must have seemed a crazy plan to overrun Jericho.
Abraham is the one I always go back to. “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” (Hebrews 11:8) Actually, it wasn’t just Abraham. Terah moved himself, Abraham, Lot, and their families from Ur to Haran. But after Terah’s death, Abraham moved the family not just from one place to another, but from the known to the unknown — that’s an unimaginable leap.
If you read yesterday’s piece, you might be wondering what the connection is. I can only show the connection by saying that it relates to my past experience.
Whenever God has put me in the penalty box in the past, making me irritable, and making it hard for me to focus on things I’m trying to do, I have found only one remedy. I must do what I’m told, return to Bible reading and prayer, and trust Him to show me what’s going on.
I can hear you saying, “Well that’s no big deal … that’s hardly trusting and obeying on Abraham’s scale!” Well you’re right. It isn’t. That’s just as well. I’m no Abraham. I’m no Noah. God only gives me as much as I can deal with … which isn’t that much. But that’s not the point. We’re not all meant to be heroic champions of the faith. We’re meant to give God just as much trust and obedience as He asks us for. I’m working on it.