“So Abram went…” (Genesis 12:4)

Have you stopped to consider those three words? Ask any biblically literate Christian to recite a verse that is three words or less and, they’ll most likely quote John 11:35: “Jesus wept.” Two short words that carry a lot of punch.

As I was reading through Genesis earlier today, I came across three words that caused me to stop: Genesis 12:4. Although the entire passage reads: “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him” it was “So Abram went” that jumped off the page.

Three verses earlier, God asked Abram to leave his country and go to the Promised Land. So…Abram went. It almost feels like a nonchalant response. In all fairness, this was Almighty God telling him to go and so I can only imagine what that experience must have been like. I digress.

But those three words are HUGE. In them we find obedience, faith, and an openness to being instructed and guided by the Lord. Remember, God doesn’t give him directions or a signpost with which to travel to Canaan. He just says, “go.”

Prior to 2018, I worked solely in the business world. I graduated from college back in 2005 and until 2012 I had the privilege of working for one of Canada’s largest and fastest growing telecommunications companies; from 2012 – 2018, I worked with smaller organizations while living in Australia. Day in and day out, it was business as usual.

I was quite comfortable in my proverbial land of Ur.

But, in 2016, I started feeling uneasy about how little I was doing for the Lord and His Kingdom. I was doing life, surrounded by amazing Christian friends, working for a great Christian company and finishing off the week with great Christian brothers and sisters. Honestly, I was in a Christian bubble. It was like a switch had flipped. I remember saying to the Lord, on many occasions, things like “Lord, use me” or “God, anytime, anywhere” or yet “Lord, here I am, send me”.

And then, one day, the Lord answered those prayers. Through a number of coincidental events, the Lord brought us out of Australia and back to Newfoundland, Canada. The Lord provided the finances, resources, and open doors for us to make the 16,000km journey back to Canada.

This wasn’t without a wrestling match, or my questioning God on his motives or, even, second guessing whether this was from the Lord or not. But I remember God calling me and so we went.

Abram went out of obedience.

Abram went out of faith.

Abram went without knowing the way.

Even though I’m a few millennia removed from Abram and his wife, Sarai, I still God working and doing the same thing for those He calls in 2020.

So, if you’re reading this, I want to challenge you. What is God calling you to do? Are you sitting at your computer trying to suppress that voice telling you to go? Are you pulling a Jonah and running the other way?

2000 years ago, Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful, and the workers are few (Matt 9:35-38)(NIV). That was 2000 years ago!! The reality hasn’t changed, in fact, it’s become worse.

I live in a place where less than 1% of our city’s population attends a church service on any given Sunday. I live in a country where only 11% of those asked attends a weekly religious service.

We need labourers in St. John’s. The harvest is plentiful, and our workers are few.

Going on ‘missions’ isn’t something reserved for the 10:40 window or a far-off land. Look in your own backyard.

Abram went.