Are We There Yet?

By Scott Armstrong

“He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there (Genesis 12:5).”

(Read Genesis 12:1-9)

What was the most incredible vacation you ever went on? Where did you go and what did you do? Did you go with family, friends, or both?

In Genesis 12 we read that the Lord calls Abram to go on a journey.  But it was far from a vacation.  Not even a majority of this trip was spent in green, lush land—and that makes a difference if you’re hauling cattle around.  This journey was long and hard, and most likely without many rewards.

But the verses we read simply state, “they set out…and they arrived” (v.5).  That’s like summing up one of my notorious family vacations by saying we set out from Kansas City and arrived in Toronto, Canada.  Just saying we set out and arrived doesn’t include the fights in the back seat between my brother and I, the threats of punishment from my parents, the awful memory of Detroit’s Grand Canyon-size potholes—you get the picture.  If you’re like me, you can imagine Abram thinking, “Maybe I got this wrong.  Did I really understand God? Why did he just say, ‘Pack up and move,’ without telling me where I’m going?”

But, like the Energizer Bunny, he just keeps going and going and going.  Time after time he stops and calls on the Lord.  Time after time he hears, “Keep going.”

There is an awesome lesson here.  Sometimes, like Abram, we have to keep taking steps even though we do not know where the Lord is taking us.  We all want to know what His big will is—those huge decisions that will affect our lives forever.  But sometimes He says, “You’re in my will.  Keep journeying on that road and the destination will become clear later.”  God’s will is not just the destination points on the highway, but the journey to and from those points.

Is there a large decision in your life that needs to be made in the next few days, weeks, or months? Have you worried about it? Maybe the Lord is showing you that you are right where you need to be and that He will provide the answer in His timing.  In the meantime, keep journeying.  Continue to draw closer to the One who will share His heart with you more and more with each passing day.  Rest assured that He has probably been doing that already.