“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.“
There are so many examples in Scripture where God has chosen a particular person to do extraordinary things simply on the basis of their faith and trust in God. God tells them something, lets them know of his intentions, and then they say, “OK, let’s do this thing.” But God is often short on the details, all they are going on is the assurance of God’s word. The Annunciation is another amazing example of faith in action, imagine what a big commitment that was for Mary. But she didn’t falter, she didn’t doubt that God’s plan for her was the right thing to do, and the thing that she was called to do, to bear the Son of God, to care for him, and to raise him up to be who he was meant to be, in order to fulfill the Covenant.
It’s a big thing, to be so certain of God’s plan, even when we’re not sure how things are going to turn out. Doubt is all pervasive. But the thing is, once we’re in faith, in that blessed state of placing everything in God’s hands, then our hearts overflow with joy. A holy mission is something that is akin to the sun coming up every morning. There it is, bright, shining, reliable, comforting, all the things that we need for a purposeful and meaningful life. Even though it may not be an easy road, and I’m sure that Abraham had his fair share of trials, stresses and dramas, mentally and emotionally this amazing faith makes the road as smooth as a brand new highway. When your head hits the pillow at night, there are no complications, the task at hand is clear cut. When we have faith like Abraham, we’re not second guessing, or wondering anymore, and we’re drawn ever nearer to our creator God, and to our beautiful Saviour. Jesus will not call us to do things that we cannot manage, and he doesn’t give us impossible challenges. And this is because he is with us all the way, just like God was with Abraham all the way.
Abraham became the father of the nations and the patriarch of the line that brought Jesus into the world. God’s plan in this case is a very long game, and it’s yet to be brought to it’s end. We wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour. And within this great over-arching dynamic are countless other actions brought into play, innumerable plans, occasions of faith in action, in which we are called to take an active part.
Failure is not part of God’s equation, and this is where faith in God’s plan makes things happen. God’s plans are perfect, always, all the time. Blessed are we when we are called to be his hands and feet in the world. Walking and acting with faith like Abraham means that we walk hand in hand with God.






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