Deciding to Say Yes to God

Halifax explosion – Captain of the Mont Blanc made fateful decision to turn the ship to avoid an approaching ship. His decision cost 2,000 lives.

Genesis 12:1-4 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram left, as the Lord had told him

Abram lived in the city of Ur, which was located in Mesopotamia at the head of the Persian Gulf near present day Kuwait. Ur was a cosmopolitan, sophisticated city. As far as we know, it was the center of world civilization in its heyday, around 2500 BC. Ur was not only the economic hub of the Middle East, it was a highly cultured place as well. It had libraries, art galleries, and great temples and pyramids decorated with the finest craftsmanship. Ur was at the forefront of science and learning.

Abram would have been familiar with all these things. He was a city-dweller, an urban creature comfortable with life in the big city. He may have had the benefit of an advanced education. From every indication, he came from a rather successful and wealthy family, so he would have been accustomed to the finer things in life. He probably knew all the best restaurants. He probably could get tickets to the finest theaters and sporting events. Perhaps he even owned some of the magnificent art treasures that archaeologists have uncovered from the ruins of Ur.

At any rate, there he was busily carving out a good life in the big city, trying to make himself a home, when God intruded into his life.

“Abram, I want you to leave your country, your people, and your father’s household, and go to a land I will show you.”

How did God speak to Abram? We don’t know. Did he speak in an audible voice? We don’t know. Did he appear to him in a vision? We don’t know. All we do know is that Abram believed that it was God telling him to do this. How do we know that? Because he went ahead and did it.

Stephen tells us in Acts 7:2 that “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.”

Hebrews 11:8 tells us that “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”

Now I want you to stop and think about this scenario for a moment. Here is a wealthy, successful man who lives in the most prestigious, sophisticated city in the world. He probably owns his own business. He has a good livelihood. He has an extended family around him. And in the midst of all that prosperity and accomplishment, God steps in and says “Drop everything and leave. Turn your back on everything that is familiar, say good-bye to everyone who knows you, including your extended family. Bid farewell to this great cosmopolitan city that you call home and come with me out into the wilderness to a place I will show you.”

God didn’t even have the courtesy to tell Abram where he was going. He simply said “Come with me to a place I will show you.”

Folks, what Abram did next is among the most significant things that any human being has ever done on this planet. He simply laced on his sandals, shut the door of his house behind him, and walked out of the gates of Ur in obedience to the call of God.

Can you hear his family? Can you hear the conversation they must have had? Can you hear Sarai his wife: “We’re going to do WHAT? We’re going WHERE? You mean you can’t even TELL me where? Abram, have you lost your mind?”

When Abram walked out of Ur, he didn’t know it, but he was literally changing the destiny of the whole human race. With every step of his sandals away from Ur, he was making an impact on world history - an impact that is still felt to this very day, 4,000 years later. But all he knew was that he was putting one foot in front of the other in obedience to what God had told him.

I’m sure that it must have been hard for Abram as he walked away from his home in Ur. I’m sure that he must have had second and third thoughts about what he was doing. And God wasn’t always there whispering in his ear to reassure him that he was doing the right thing. There were long periods of silence when Abram didn’t hear from God. All he could do was put one foot in front of the other and keep walking. Walking by faith in obedience to the call of God.

What he didn’t know at the time was that every step he took out of Ur was taking him a step closer to home. Abram thought that Ur was his home, but it wasn’t. God had a much better home planned for Abram. God had a much better destiny for Abram than to just be a successful businessman in a pagan city. God had big plans for Abram. But to realize those plans, Abram had to put one foot in front of the other in obedience to what God was telling him to do.

Now this is where God wants to talk to you and me this morning. As it was true for Abram in 2000 BC, so it is true for us in 2000 AD. Every step of obedience to God will take us a step closer to home.

You say “Wait a minute. I’m not like Abram. I haven’t heard God speaking to me lately.” Oh? You haven’t? Maybe God has been speaking to you but you haven’t recognized his voice. Like young Samuel, you thought it was someone else talking to you, but it really was God.

You see, God speaks to us in many ways - through His Word, through our conscience, through the ordering of circumstances in our lives. And his voice is a still, small voice. He doesn’t shout at us like the world does. He speaks quietly, but persistently. He puts His thoughts in our minds and in our hearts.

Is God calling you, today? Is God telling you to do something? To contact someone? To share with someone? To make a wrong right? To turn away from sin and turn to righteousness?

Perhaps He’s been telling you to do this for a long time now. Maybe you’ve been resisting. Maybe you’ve been afraid that if you do it, it will jeopardize this “home” that you’ve been trying to make for yourself in this world.

Brothers and sisters, if God is telling you to do something, just go ahead and do it. Don’t ask questions, don’t try to rationalize your way out of it. Just do it. Because every step of obedience to God brings you a step closer to home - the real home that God has for you. The real home you’ve been looking for all along.