Mainline Denomination News Magazine decided to conduct an interview with Abraham, the father of the faith. What follows is a short excerpt:
MDN: So our readers are all wondering, where are you going with this? I mean to leave behind an established life, an established way of doing things, your home and your relatives, the place where you belong… You must have a pretty well-defined vision to make such a bold move!
A: Well, no. God spoke. I obeyed. I don’t really know where it’s headed and where the destination is. Not yet, anyway. God just told me I couldn’t stay where I was. He said He was calling me out – to a land that He would show me. I don’t really know what it will be like.
MDN: A lot of people would say that God doesn't do that. God doesn’t call people out of something with no clear vision of where He’s taking them or what it is He wants them to build for Him. That your journey out is unto nothing and nothing will come of it. What do you say to those people?
A: I don’t really have an answer for them. This is what God has done with me. What else can I say? I suppose I really can't answer them because they already have all their answers figured out. So my experience of God may not fit into their grid... But the short answer is that I'm not really interested in trying to build something for Him. He created the universe; what could I build for Him?
MDN: Hmmm. Interesting. So what are you going to do when you arrive at your destination?
A: I may not see the complete fulfillment of all God has promised me, or "the destination," in my lifetime. But, I believe Him. So I will keep moving forward and move with God as He leads me one step at a time. It's quite a simple plan, really.
(HT: Genesis 12:1-4)
Friday, May 23, 2008
Interview with Abraham
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3 comments:
KB: What's the deal with Ishmael? Your sons are still causing trouble and still fighting with each other.
A: Doh!
A: You know I am constantly amazed that I would still be recorded in Hebrews as one who went out by faith. Or even that Sarah would be recorded as having conceived by faith. (Even after she laughed at the thought of bearing children.) God remembers in a different manner than I do, He majors on different things than I do. It is a testament to His great grace. His recounting of the story is so different from how I would tell it. And now Jesus is appearing in open visions and in dreams to my sons from Ishmael, and they are beginning to come into the covenant as well. He has been so faithful to His promise, that He hasn't even forgotten my son Ishmael. Not because He owes me or any man anything, but because faithfulness is His nature. It's humbling, and I am in fear and in awe of a God *this* good.
11:06 AM
Yes, you are exactly right. There is one people group I am aware of in the middle east and every one of them who has become a follower of Jesus has started their journey with a dream or vision, often of Jesus himself speaking to them. So, when people are restricted from receiving the written word the Living Word appears to them. We should be in awe of this God.
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