But what about when God asks you to do hard things?

Now the LORD had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen 12:1-3)

Let’s notice something here, God told Abram to leave country and family. That’s a “hard ask”, but through that obedience came blessing.

And in contrast, to the people who wanted to “make a name for themselves” (see yesterdays’ post on the Tower of Babel), God said HE would make Abram’s name great.

The key to all of this is whether or not we believe God is enough to satisfy us. Is He really our living water? Is He really Lord of our lives or have we refused to surrender all things to Him?

Are we still holding tight to our blessings rather than the giver of the blessings? Are we focused only on how we think our lives should go?

As A.W. Tozer writes, “ Gods gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by this monstrous substitution.” He goes on to explain to allow this self-life to live “is, in the end, to lose everything. To repudiate it and give up all for Christ’s sake is to lose nothing at last, but to preserve everything into life eternal.”

Remember, our Lord said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matt 16:24-25)

The thing is, when we seek our own way and our own glory, we will eventually fall flat on our faces (the Bible is full of such accounts, and if we are honest, many of us have tried it too).

But when our desire is to follow God and give Him glory, He blesses us every time…even when what He is asking us is hard.

God kept His promise to Abraham. He made Abram’s name great (renamed Abraham by God). How many of us have sung the song, “Father Abraham” all these thousands of years later?

Indeed, let’s be encouraged to remember, God does what He says He will do! We can trust Him!

So, I wonder, what is He asking you to do? You know He won’t just ask the easy things, right?

Oh friend, let’s listen for His voice. Then let’s do what He is calling us to do. Let’s go where He’s calling us to go. Let’s say what He is pressing on our hearts to say. Let’s remember He will never ask us to go anywhere, or do anything, that He won’t go with us.

“Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.(Psalm 139:7-12)

Oh friend, May we seek His face and go as He leads. May we trust Him and do all things for His glory. For it’s there that we are truly blessed.

readGenesis

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