Abram Had An Astonishing Capacity for Belief (Genesis 12:1-5)

“The LORD had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated… they set out from the land of Canaan, and they arrived there”
(Genesis 12:1-5, NIV).

Abram (later will be called Abraham) lived somewhere in modern-day Iraq, most likely from a tribe of moon-worshippers. Nothing in the Bible indicates what kind of man Abram was - nothing about his moral life – that separated him from other pagans. And yet God choses him. Few chapters after the Bible recorded that Abram was quite average in his character and integrity.

But God called Abram anyway. Abram, this childless 75-year-old, would be a great nation someday, and through him God would bless all the nations. All Abram had to do (which is the hardest to do) was leave everything he had ever known – his country, people and household – and follow this mysterious Voice to a new country. The Voice doesn’t mention, by the way, where this new country is, or how long it will take to get there.

Amazingly, Abram followed. Whatever his shortcomings, the man had an astonishing capacity to believe. He staked his whole life on the conviction that God’s promises were true. Again and again, Abram made mistakes. But he always returned to this first conviction: God’s promises are true. That capacity to believe is what made Abram the father of our faith. Obedience come from believing in God’s promises. Abram could not always know what route the journey would take but he learned to trust in God to direct his steps.

How can Abram's faith in God’s promises encourage you
to entrust your needs more fully to God?

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.