A Call and a Journey

Abram was in Haran, but where exactly was he when You spoke to him? Was he counting livestock in the fields? Was he at home resting? Did You speak to him in a dream? Was Abram frightened when You spoke? This was almost 300 years after the flood. Who taught Abram about You? Did Shem pass down the account of the flood in such a way that his descendants kept the faith? I barely know the names of my ancestors only four generations back and this was nine generations later!

            Abram was 75 years old when You spoke these things to him. How shocking this would be today! We think of 65 as the age of retirement, not of new beginnings! Lord, I want to see new possibilities in my older years and even in the lives of my parents, not yet 75 years old themselves.

            And, Lord, Abram was so good at letting go, moving on and trusting You. He built an altar at the oak of Moreh, but then he moved on. He built another altar to You between Ai and Bethel, but then he moved on. Lord, I want this open-handed faith. I want to hear You, look up and remember to worship You and thank You for the blessings, yet still be able to move on.

            Lord, how did You show Abram the land that You had for him? Did You use signs or an audible voice? How did Abram know how to hear You? Why was he so confident that it was You? Lord, make me this confident. Oh, Lord, bring my faith to this place.

            I wonder, Lord, did Your voice feel to Abram like the passionate compulsion to obey planted in my own heart? Oh, Lord, I want to be this quick to move when You speak.