“All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3b, NLT)

In the summer of 1993, the Lord spoke to my wife Cindy and me to leave the church I had attended for 20 years in Sacramento and move to Boise to start a church. For us, this was a huge step of faith, because we didn’t know anyone in Boise. In September, I attended a pastors’ conference in Northern California. On the last night they asked us to come forward if we wanted prayer. My pastor Louis Neely, Don McClure of Calvary Chapel San Jose, and Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa were there. I told them what God had put in my heart and asked for prayer for this step of faith. Pastor Chuck prayed, “Father, show him where you would have him pitch his tent and prepare the hearts of the people you would have him minister to.” The following March, we packed up all our things and moved to Boise with our two children and have been here ever since. God has been more than faithful to provide for our needs and give us a body of believers to minister to.

Whenever I read the story of God calling Abram to leave Ur of the Chaldees and go to the land that He would show him, I think of our own story. Whenever God speaks to us, He always requires us to respond by faith.

Abram didn’t know where he was going. He had no job to go to. He had no home in which to live. All he had was a promise that God would bless him and bless the world through him. Abram is the father of everyone who is justified by faith because Abram believed God and obeyed His voice.

God still speaks to people today. It may not be in an audible voice. Often, He simply speaks to us through His Word. But He calls us to step out in faith, and He wants us to obey. If we do, then we will most certainly be blessed, and God will use us to bless others.

Has God spoken to you? Are you attentive to His voice, even when He disrupts your plans?

God calls ordinary people to walk by faith, leave what is familiar, trust His promises, and live as pilgrims in a broken world. As with Abram, this may get messy at times, usually because of our own weaknesses and failures. But God remains faithful to complete the good work He has promised.