I was reading the account of God calling Abram to leave all that he had and all that he knew and go to a land unfamiliar to him. Abram, on the word of the Lord left family, friends, all that was familiar and comfortable and went to a foreign land that God promised to give him and his descendents forever. And when he got to this Promised Land he saw that there was a famine in the land (verse 10 of Genesis Chapter 12). Did you catch that? God called Abram into a famine! Wouldn’t most of be doubting we had really heard the word of the Lord about then. I mean when we step out in obedience don’t we expect to see positive fruit as a reward to our submission. How many of us when instead met with hardship or massive roadblocks, immediately begin to wonder if we really heard God? Otherwise we think the devil is attacking us, and would blame the struggles on him.
God gave Joseph a dream and the boy had to suffer the abuse of his family, being sold into slavery and 12 years in prison before that pledge became a reality. Moses knew he was destined to deliver the Israelites out of slavery, and yet he spent 40 years in the dessert after his first attempt, ended in murder. Recall the account of Isaac and Rebecca. God promised Abraham many descendents; God renews that promise to Abraham’s son Isaac. God even sends an angel to help Abraham’s servant find Isaac’s wife. The two are finally married and Isaac’s wife, Rebecca is barren. God gave Isaac a barren wife to bless him with children. Seriously?
We tend to think the hardships of life are proof that either we missed God and made a wrong turn, or that the enemy is out to hinder us. Perhaps it is merely the training ground that our Heavenly Dad is guiding us through, because He knows we will need the strength and endurance we learned on the journey to meet the mountains we will encounter just around the corner. Remember it was the Sprit of God that led Jesus into the dessert to be tempted.
