Week 4 Monday

Stage by Stage

Today’s scripture selection: Genesis 12-15

Key verse: Genesis 12:9

 

     He was seventy-five years old when he left his homeland: not a great time in life to begin a road trip.

     But Abram, who would one day be known as Abraham – the father of a multitude – did what God told him to do.  So he moved.

     “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”

     That was the promise – that’s what Abram believed.  So how did he begin this journey?  He made it the way each of us must travel through life – stage by stage – step by step.

     I love Abram and Sarai’s story for a lot of reasons.  I love the witness of their faith in advanced years; I love that everywhere Abram went along the way he built an altar to the Lord; I love how even when there were obstacles, and dangers, and fearful things in the way, Abram kept moving in simple and profound trust.

     But most of all, I love that he and his family traveled in stages.  They didn’t have all the answers and in the midst of that kind of uncertainty it would have been so easy to just sit out his retirement years, there in Haran, because after all he was already “very rich in livestock, silver and in gold.”

     So why move?  Why upset the apple cart?  Why not just sit back and enjoy the view.  Because God told him to move, that’s why.  And that was good enough for Abram.

     So God honored the promise and four thousand years later the people of the Book, and billions all over the world who worship in the traditions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity know this one man as their spiritual “father.”

     But it began with packing that first bag, and hitching up the animals to those first carts, and setting out into unknown territory.  Can we dare to do that?  Venture out into our own unknown territories in simple and profound trust?  If we can, God has blessing waiting for us.  He’s like that.

Just ask Abram.

    

    

   Prayer: Almighty God, lead me where you will, and strengthen my spirit so I can follow.  Thank you, Lord, for the challenges and blessings ahead.  AMEN.

 

Paul Simrell's avatar

By Paul Simrell

The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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