Be Not Afraid!
Genesis 12:1-4a
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.
As a student of the Bible, I have come to appreciate the irony that is often contained within the Scriptures. One of my very favorites is that any time you hear three simple words in the Bible you can be fairly confident that those words will raise one’s blood pressure and anxiety levels. And those three words are: be not afraid—because they often are accompanied by something that God has just done or is about to do that is, frankly, just beyond our human capacity to understand, to explain, or is sometimes just flat overwhelming; because God often has promises and purpose for our lives that are much beyond our imagination. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. God’s ways are not our ways.
In today’s Genesis passage, Abram appears out of nowhere. He’s seventy-five years old and God essentially says, “Abram, have I got a promise for you! You will be the father of all nations, and your descendants shall possess the land.” Now Abram’s old, and his wife is long past childbearing years. God goes on to say, “Go to a land that I will show you.” And Abram goes. Now, I don’t know about you, but I would have had a few questions about the whole enterprise, on how that was going to come to pass. And when I take a journey, I like to have a map. But Scripture just says that Abram asked no questions; doesn’t consult his family; leaves behind everything that he’s ever known; and goes.
Have you ever felt called by God to go or do or be—something that required you to step out in faith without the benefit of a map or the details? How did you respond? In this season of Lent, we are all reminded that God does indeed call us in a variety of ways, and it is always our choice of how we will respond. Be not afraid!
Blessings and in faith, Jan+
prayer
O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Second Sunday in Lent)
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