Genesis 12: 1 "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 shew thee:"
Within scripture we find one of two things happening to the Lord's people. One, the Lord God sends them his faithful messenger to reside with them and feed his sheep with the word of the risen Lord Jesus Christ right where they are, or two, the Lord gives them a heart to depart from the place where they reside to the place where they will be edified and God will be honored. In this text we find the Lord directing Abram [Abraham] to do the latter.
This country was Abraham's country. This kindred was Abraham's kindred. This house was the house of Abraham's father. The Lord told Abraham, I will make of thee a great nation—when in fact, his wife Sara was barren and Abraham had no children. From the viewpoint of the natural heart, Abraham had every reason to stay right where he was.
The natural heart looks at the sentimental—this is my country, my kindred, my father's house—this place has been passed down for generations. The natural heart looks at what seems impossible—where will I live? How will I make a living? What will become of my family? The natural heart looks at past failures and future difficulties, the steep mountain ahead and the green pastures behind. The natural heart looks to its own wisdom—anyone with common sense would have told Abraham he was a fool. Remember this: Whether it is concerning salvation by the free grace of God in Christ or it is concerning God's sovereignty or any other thing which is godly—the enemy of righteousness always says the opposite of what God says, hence the serpent beguiled Eve with—Ye shall not surely die! The natural heart says to the one in whom it resides, to you, and to anyone who will listen--"I can't" but it is really saying, "I won't!"
However, by the Spirit of God, true faith trusts God to do what he says he will do. Thus sincere faith obeys God. The spiritual heart looks to Christ. Even against all natural reasoning, the spiritual heart believes God. Thus Abraham departed, as the Lord had spoken to him. And through God's promise to Abraham came the seed of promise—Christ Jesus the Lord.
A man made wise by God, once gave me a word of encouragement set forth in scripture, I will pass it on to you. Though the believer is faced with many daily trials in life, God gives the true believer only a few, weighty trials by which he proves the sincerity of our faith. As you face the trial of your faith, in whom will you trust to deliver you? Abraham believed God.
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