Read Genesis 12:1-9; Hebrews 11:8

If God Says It, Do It

God does not speak directly to us today like He did in the age of the patriarchs…but what if He did? What if He said to you, “Leave everything and everyone you know and go to a strange place.” Would you obey without hesitation? In a hypothetical situation, it is easy to say that we would obey. But in reality, there would likely be some trepidation at such a request.

Abram is the man who we later come to know as Abraham. He showed no hesitation in following God’s directive. God said, “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). The Scriptures do not indicate any argument from Abram. Inspiration simply says, “So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him” (Genesis 12:4). How did this man so readily accept what the Lord had spoken?

The answer to that question is revealed in Hebrews 11:8. “By faith.” Abram trusted that God would accomplish what He willed and that He would protect his followers. So without any debate with Deity, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” There was no question in Abram’s mind but that God would do what God said He would do.

God promised to bless Abram, to bless those who blessed Abram, and to bless all the families of the earth in Abram. God led Abram to the land of Canaan, a land that was inhabited, and said, “To your descendants I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7). The thing is, Abram did not have any descendants at this time. He was seventy-five years old (Genesis 12:4), and his wife Sarai was barren (Genesis 11:30).

Still, the Scriptures do not indicate any doubt in the mind of Abram. Instead of questioning what God had just said, Abram built an altar there. Then Abram continued on, as the land was not yet his, and built another altar. His faith did not waver; Abram trusted the Lord. He had the attitude, “If God says it, do it.”

Do we display that same attitude in our lives today?