Abraham
When God Says “Go”
Have you ever had to step into something without knowing how it would turn out?
Maybe it was a new job, a move to a new city, a relationship, or a hard conversation you weren’t sure you were ready for. You felt that pull—that quiet, persistent nudge that said, “This is what you’re supposed to do.” But if you’re honest, part of you wanted a guarantee first.
We like maps. We like control. We like knowing where the road ends before we take the first step. But faith—real, biblical faith—isn’t about having a map. It’s more like being handed a compass and told to start walking. God says, “Go,” and we have to trust that He knows where “there” is.
That’s exactly how the story of Abraham begins.
In Genesis 12, God speaks to Abram:
“Go from your country, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1)
No itinerary. No destination. Just a call and a promise:
“I will make you into a great nation…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2–3)
And with that, the story of faith begins. Abram went. He left behind everything familiar—home, family, security—on the promise of a God he had only just begun to know. The ancient world valued stability and roots, yet Abraham became a wanderer. Why? Because faith means trusting the Caller more than you trust your comfort.
But Abraham’s story isn’t just an ancient tale—it’s a mirror. Every one of us is invited into that same kind of faith journey. God still calls ordinary people into extraordinary trust. Abraham wasn’t chosen because he was perfect or heroic; he was just willing to say yes.
And yet, the journey wasn’t easy. The years rolled on without a child, without any sign of the promised nation. At one point, Abraham looked up at the sky and wondered how any of it could possibly come true. But God reminded him, “Look up at the stars…so shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:5) And Abraham believed—and God called that belief “righteousness.”
Still, the waiting stretched on. Twenty-five years passed between the promise and the birth of Isaac. Twenty-five years of trusting when nothing seemed to be happening. That’s the part of the story that hits home, isn’t it? Most of us struggle to wait 25 seconds for a video to load—never mind 25 years for a promise to unfold.
And just when it seemed the story had reached its happy ending—when Isaac was finally born—God tested Abraham’s faith once more. The command to offer Isaac (Genesis 22) remains one of the most difficult stories in Scripture, but at its heart is a radical truth: God never desired the death of the child; He desired the trust of the father. God provided a ram, revealing once and for all that He is not like the gods of the ancient world. He is the God who provides.
Faith, then, is not clinging to the gift but trusting the Giver—even when the gift is on the altar.
Madeleine L’Engle once wrote that God doesn’t call the qualified—He qualifies the called. Abraham and Sarah were old and ordinary, hardly the people anyone would choose to begin a nation. But that’s how God works. The call of faith always begins with a disruption: Leave. Go. Trust.
And maybe that’s where you find yourself today.
Perhaps God is nudging you toward something that scares you—a new season, a deeper commitment, a step of obedience that doesn’t come with guarantees.
What if you said yes?
What if you trusted that God will show you the next step once you take this one?
What if faith isn’t about having it all figured out—but about walking with the One who does?
Like Abraham, we are called to go without a map, to believe without proof, to surrender what we love most into the hands of a faithful God.
Because faith isn’t about arriving. It’s about walking—step by step—with the God who still whispers, “Go…to the land I will show you.”