November 5, 2004
Marching Off The Map
Read: Genesis 12:1-4
Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. —Genesis 12:1
Bible In One Year: Jeremiah 34-36; Hebrews 2
Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans. Our lives are subject to detours and corrections that we never expected or imagined.
Abraham and Sarah could testify to that. They were planning for retirement when life "happened" to them. God adjusted their agenda. He told Abraham, "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you" (Genesis 12:1). So this old couple packed up the tent and headed out to only God knew where.
When Alexander the Great had completed his conquest of Persia, he headed east. Author Halford Luccock said the general "marched off his maps."
That happened to Sarah and Abraham. God gave them marching orders without a map. They needed only enough faith to begin the journey, and they headed out to unknown territories and unimagined adventures. God never told them He would turn them "every which way but loose" before fulfilling His promise of a son who would become a great nation.
Make your plans. But write them on paper, not in concrete. God and life have a way of intruding and leading you on a journey that you might not have anticipated in your wildest dreams. —Haddon Robinson
I don't seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand. —Stanphill
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A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. —Proverbs 16:9