We cannot go with God and stay where we are. Where is God taking us? Today, if we hear his voice, will we respond? If we are not actively for God, we stand opposed to his will for our lives.
At Babel, the people gathered in one place against God. “We shall not be moved,” was their motto. Determined to make a name for themselves, they began to build. If only they had known, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
Terah and his family walked away from the decidedly indecisive sounding city of Ur. They left a walled city with running water (archeologists tell us?!) to go live in tents. Away from the sons of Shem, they moved to live among the descendants of Ham. But Terah stopped short of the goal. Thankfully, Terah’s son Abram heard God’s call and obeyed. Upon entering the land, Abram built an altar to God and called upon his name. God kept his promise to Abram, blessing him, and making him a blessing to others.
Whose name matters most to us today. Is it our brand? Must we tell others about our achievements? We cannot simultaneously make a name for ourselves and make much of the name of God. We either live for his glory or for our own.
Fourteen years ago a little girl and her mother came to live with us for a week. Displaced by a storm, my cousin Christie and her daughter needed a place to start over. All week long, every time I stood up, my little cousin asked me, “Where are you going?” “To Walmart . . .” I answered. “May I go?” she asked. “Yes, you may.” She was my shadow. Then at the end of a week she said, “I want to live at you house.” We had found a place in Round Rock for them to resettle. But they had no people there.
As I gassed up their car to go back to Houma, Louisiana to retrieve their sparse possessions, I thought, “They will not come back to Texas.” I was wrong. Sure enough, they returned and moved to Round Rock. When they left everything behind, they had no idea that Christie would pass away, within a few months. Prayerfully, we pursued custody of her daughter, who did indeed come to live in our house. How do I calculate the courage it took for them to leave everything behind? But if they had not come back, we might never have seen Casey again.
We never know where God will lead us. But know this for sure: we cannot go with God and stay where we are. What has God told us to do today? Why are we waiting? Today is the day to obey. Let’s go with God, be blessed, and be a blessing.
