Pastor Beryl's Blog: Journeying Through Lent, 2

For the blog this week, I am sharing a story entitled “New Adventures”, submitted by Won Hur.  I hope you will find inspiration for your own journey as we travel through Lent together.

Genesis 12:1-5 -New International Version

The Call of Abram

12  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. 2 “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. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

 Abram and Sarai are living among their kin as they always had when God turned their lives upside down.  Rather than living a life of comfort and leisure in their retirement years, they are called upon to leave their home, family and community for a land far away.  Unlike Adam and Eve, they are not banished, but are give the promise of a new nation in a new land:  God will make their names great, and they will be a blessing.  The promise does seem rather incredible.

Abram had to trust in what God had said, but he must have had his doubts.  Was this message really from God?  Or was it a dream?  No matter; the fact is that Abram had to have faith that it was indeed God in order to uproot not only himself, but also his wife Sari and his nephew, Lot – both of whom joined him on the journey to an unknown destination.  A promise from God not only upended their life, but they also truly changed the world.

With the exception of our Indigenous brothers and sisters, everyone is a foreigner on this continent.  Everyone has a story about how, when and why they or their ancestors left their original home and come to this land.  Our stories connect us to one another, to Abram and Sarai and to God, who calls us to new adventures.

God may be calling you on a journey to a new land, a new job, a new home, a new opportunity or a new friendship that might transform who you are so that you may become an even greater blessing to others.  Ae you ready?

Let’s pray:

O God of life and love, you call us from comfort, complacency and status quo.
You nudge us to a live beyond ourselves and to a life even greater than our imaginations and fears.
May we trust in your guidance towards a new life.
Protect, comfort and lead us, and we will follow.
May we be a blessing to others, not just in the future, but starting today.  Amen

Beryl