I’ve been reading through Hebrews lately, and for the last two days I have been stuck in chapter 11. I can’t seem to make it but a few verses at a time before something makes me stop and ponder for a bit.

The first verse that made me stop was verse 8:

By faith <span class="crossreference" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(N)”>Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place <span class="crossreference" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(O)”>that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (emphasis added)

 Genesis 12:1 says it this way:

Now <span class="crossreference" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(A)”>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.”

Abraham had zero knowledge of where he was going. Zero, zip, zilch, no comprende.

Abraham’s response?

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from <span class="crossreference" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.65em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(E)”>Haran. (emphasis added)

Abraham went. He said “Yes,” and then God told him where to go.

What a great example of faith, of trusting God even if goes against everything society told him. God had a huge plan that would come through Abraham’s simple act of faith. Through the simple act of going an entire nation came into being and would show the world the glory of God. Through this one man God would make Himself known to the rest of the world. That’s incredible to me. I wonder if Abraham could grasp the magnitude of his obedience, of God telling him he would become the father of a great nation.

Most of us don’t have God telling us the end result of our obedience like Abraham did. We’ll never know the impact our obedience has on other people. The same goes for our disobedience. I hate to think about what my disobedience has cost both me and others.

I’ve written before that at the end of my life I want desperately to be found faithful. I want to walk in obedience, even if that obedience means I do not know what is coming around the corner. But I don’t want my life to just be obedient. I want to be open-handed with my life. Let me explain a bit. I don’t want to be close-fisted with my life, with my decisions, my possessions, my time, etc. I don’t want to hold it all so closely that it is a struggle for me to let it go. Instead I want to be open-handed with it all. Whether it be going across the street, helping someone in great need, or going overseas I don’t want to think twice about it. I don’t want to question. I want to be obedient without argument or doubt.

How I long to walk blindly in faith. To go because God is telling me to go. To not worry about the details. To not agonize over the decision. To not be concerned about what others will think. To just go and do. 

I pray that God leads me to trust Him more and more as I continue to walk the path He has set before me. But even more than that I pray for open-handedness.