Abraham

I am connected. I am connected to having a Walmart two miles away. I am connected to having about 40 restaurants within a five mile radius. I am connected to the great city where I live, with all of the services and conveniences that I could ask for. There isn't even any real traffic. I am connected to the comfortable.

What would happen if God asked me to sever these connections? What if I was asked to leave it all behind? What if God asked me to connect to the uncomfortable, or worse yet, come unconnected to everything? Most likely I would say "what about my kids" or "people here need God too." I would think about my financial situation and my mortgage. I would think about how much a move costs and how I like for things to be organized and planned.

It amazes me that I encounter so many people who have followed God's call to be uncomfortable. Whether it is a missionary who goes overseas or a family man who quits his job to attend seminary, there are people who have heard God say go, and they went. Like Abraham, they listened to God, even when there were no concrete answers. There was no strategic plan, just a promise. And, while it should not be surprising for us to believe that someone trusted God's promises, it really isn't that easy to do, not when we are already connected.

Abraham left his land where he was rich and respected, and he traveled to a place that was occupied by hostile and foreign people. He left land that was his to live on land that was others, all the while believing that both were actually God's. However, by leaving the comfortable, he was used by God in ways that he never could have imagined.

Is the problem that we are not supposed to get comfortable? I think it may just be human nature to settle in, especially once we have children. I suppose the key is to remember that we are following a plan that is not our own, or at least not of our design. When we think that we are calling all of the shots, it can be really painful to interrupt our plans. When we simply enjoy the journey, we realize that God wants us to make the most out of each opportunity because we never know when the next one will start.