Risky Business.

Today's post is inspired from the message at Hillside this morning.

If you are risking everything, how much more do you think God will use you?

A question asked by Cal Jernigan this morning during the service. As he spoke, I knew the weight that this message held. Is my faith enough? Do I trust God enough? Am I crazy for dropping everything, and moving to Africa for a year?

I think, and believe that this is a normal and totally acceptable question to ask at this point in my journey. I think if I didn't feel any fear at all that would be a bigger issue. So this mornings message on Faith, and belief is something I was yearning for.

Abraham. A man called. A man weary of the promise the Lord made to him, sounds completely familiar. Reading in Genesis, Chapter 12 verse 1, " The LORD had said to Abram, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you." Let's stop there to break down the magnitude that one verse holds.  The reality here is breathtaking.

First off, GO. That one word, a command, not a suggestion or something to contemplate. Two letters that hold the weight of so much life in them. But yet, somewhere in the middle of those two letters something unseen brings up so much hesitation and fear. How is it that one word that can hold so much life, can also hold so very much uncertainty. Who am I to question the word of the Lord? A daunting question to stop and ask yourself.

In verse one the Lord tells Abram to not only just go, but to leave behind all that is comfortable and normal in life for something the Lord "will show" him. I find this so humorous. To me, I like to know everything. I am a planner through and through. So to read that the Lord was just asking Abram to step out on FAITH and go not knowing where he would end up is mind boggling to me. The simple way the language is written here carries so much truth. To go, to step out on faith, is to leave my country, to leave my friends, family, and my home. Scary. All that has been the make-up of my life thus far and soon I will be without. Even now though, as I type these words and study scripture I am reassured of one thing. The "things" that I have thought made me who I am are just that, things. I am who I am because of the Lord. I am a woman who desires to be rooted in scripture and truth, not four walls of a home, and people around me.

The beauty of Genesis 12 continues. Not only did the Lord promise to take him to a new land, his promises continue...

           " I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
              I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
              I will bless those who bless you,
              and whoever curses you I will curse;
              and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

Stepping out and going takes Faith.
Faith is risky business.

But one thing I believe and was pointed out today is the simple fact that Faith matters. I loved the three points Cal spoke on this morning.

1. Faith always involves a risk. 
2. Faith looks illogical.
3. Faith is more than words.

So I ask you, and I ask myself, are you playing it safe in your faith? Or, are you risking everything so that God will use you even more than you can imagine? God has promised us so much more than we settle for, so much more than we can see at face value. He always provides, always loves, and always goes before us. I want more. I want the life the Lord desires for me. So I go, like Abram in chapter 12 and the chapters to follow, I will always question and seemingly get down but at the end of the day, He knows what is best for me.

So, Go. There is so much more.