Blog

by Logan Ames

Like many people, I’ve had seasons of my life when, now that I look back on them, I can see that I was settling. One such time was after I graduated college. I had grown up in Pennsylvania and knew that God was calling me to go to seminary and eventually be a pastor, but that meant moving to a faraway land known as Findlay, Ohio, for a minimum of three years. That was going to be very uncomfortable. I’d have to move away from my family, lose a lot of friendships, and go where I had no network of support and little money. I had been preaching for many years and there was no doubt about my specific calling, but for the first time in my life I would have to seriously walk by faith and trust God. Needless to say, I decided against it.

Many of you who know my story are thinking, “Wait a minute, I thought he did go to seminary and live in Ohio." It’s true that I did, but I’m here to tell you now that I delayed my move quite a bit. And let me just tell you, when God calls you to something and you have no doubt about it whatsoever, never delay! I searched for comfort in relationships with women, in a good-paying job, in friends, in my social life, and in setting up ways to make sure all MY needs were met. But the more I resisted what God was urging me to do, the more I felt uneasy and unsatisfied. It wasn’t until a friend and leader in the church called me out on my sin of settling and told me I would continue to lack purpose and passion until I obeyed God that I finally decided to do so. Had I not gone to Ohio, I probably wouldn’t be a pastor, wouldn’t have met my wife, and wouldn’t even know what Worldview Warriors is, let alone be writing for them!

A man who we know as Abraham, who was originally named “Abram,” was prone to settling at one point in his life. Yet, he learned to obey God and walk faithfully. We will spend the next three weeks talking about this man, as there is much to learn and apply to our own lives. Hebrews 11 has more to say about him than anyone else. Our foundational verse of Hebrews 11:3 certainly applies to him. Abram was given a promise without many specific details, yet he knew that a God who formed the entire universe out of what is not seen could handle the details. That first step is basically where I got hung up before I followed the call. I was worried about all my needs and so many details that God had already figured out since before the world was created! If you’ve experienced such a time in your life, you can learn from Abraham’s faith.

Hebrews 11:8-9 tells us that Abraham “obeyed and went” when God called him to a place where he would receive what was promised “even though he did not know where he was going." We also see that he had to live as a stranger in a foreign land and basically camp in tents. He didn’t even have a house for crying out loud! Talk about trusting God for your needs! To make sure we’re all brought up to speed, you can learn about the promise to Abram in Genesis 12:1-7. First, he is told to leave his home, his native land, his friends, and even his father’s household, but he is not provided with the destination. He is simply told that God will show him a land. God probably knew that Abram wouldn’t go just based on that alone and would just chalk it up to bad wine or a weird dream. So, God adds the incentive by promising to make Abram into a great nation and to bless all peoples through him. Let’s face it, we’re all promised things from time to time. The promise alone is irrelevant unless we believe we can trust the “promise-r” to fulfill it. Abram had to leave all of those comforts and trust God even though God wouldn’t even tell him where he was going. God wasn’t forcing him. He could have rejected the call and then went about his business. But he probably would’ve found, like I and maybe you did, that settling for less than the best God has for you only brings discontentment. Maybe he already knew it.

I find it interesting that we read this story and always tend to focus on the fact that Abram was not given a destination. We think God is being a little unreasonable with this call and we wonder how we could ever respond the way Abram did. But what if I told you that it’s not always about where you’re going? Sometimes, it’s about WHAT you’re leaving behind. Look again at what God says to Abram in Genesis 12:1. God does nothing by coincidence, so you better believe that he wanted to remind Abram of what he needed to leave rather than put his focus on where he was going to end up. Many biblical scholars believe that Abram’s father and his native people were big into idolatry. While we don’t know that for certain, I always think about the fact that we read about the faith of Abram but not of his father. In fact, that’s true about most of the heroes of our faith. But I have a free piece of advice for you: if you are currently operating in an environment that encourages participation in anything that you know is not acceptable in God’s eyes and it is bringing you down rather than bringing you up, I can promise you that God is “calling” you to leave that environment. He wants you to RUN, not walk, away from sin.

Not doing what God commands is sin. And Abram’s father showed him how to sin in this manner. Acts 7:2-3 tells us that the call to head to the land of Canaan came to Abram while he was still in Mesopotamia. Abram’s family lived specifically in the land of Ur in that area, and Genesis 11:31 tells us that his father, Terah, took the family and set out from there to go to the land of Canaan. This was the actual Promised Land that God would give Abram and where Israel is still located to this day. But that same verse shows us that they came to Harran and “settled” there. When Abram followed God in Genesis 12:4, he set out from - guess where - Harran! That means it was only after they had settled for less than God’s best that Abram chose to follow God as he should’ve in the first place.

The name “Terah” means “delay." Friends, you may have learned to settle and even been encouraged to settle by your parents or those around you. But God wants so much more for you. He has promises for you. Abram’s name, which meant “exalted father,” was changed to Abraham, which means “father of many,” only after he began to trust God for his basic needs and also that what God promised would all come true. We’ll dig into this more next week, but keep in mind that we cannot get what we want in this world by trying to “exalt” ourselves and make sure WE are taken care of. 1 Peter 5:6 tells us that only AFTER we humble ourselves before God will he “lift (us) up in due time." Abram learned the idols of SELF and SETTLING from his father, but received the promise and the praise from God after he humbly obeyed and trusted him. In whatever area you know you are currently settling because you are worried about meeting your own needs, I urge you to trust the God who made everything you see from that which you cannot see. He will not fail you and he never breaks his promises!

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.