Hello and thank you for joining in. This episode is about 7 Lessons You Will Learn in Your Strange Places.
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: Genesis 12:1-2 KJV
God told Abraham to leave his house and to leave everyone he knew. I can’t imagine how much faith it took for Abraham to obey that directive because his father had just died.
“By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. “By faith, he lived as a foreigner in the promised land, as in a strange land, living in tents [as nomads] with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.” Hebrews 11:8 AMP, 11:9 MSG
God directed Abraham to go into a strange land. Strange means previously unknown; unfamiliar, peculiar, alien or foreign, (God told him to go into a foreign country), and my favorite is Inexplicable – not possible to explain.
Have you ever been in a place that you didn’t know what was going on with you? You just knew you were in a strange place. A place you couldn’t explain? Inexplicable not possible to explain. Nothing seemed or felt right. You were just in this nebulous place that you didn’t have words to explain. I’m sure Abraham’s family members began to question him about where he was going and what was he going to do once he got there? It took faith for Abraham to leave his home to go to a place he didn’t know anything about or a place he had never been before to live with a people he knew nothing about.
Faith means obediently stepping into the unknown. That’s what many people struggle with stepping into the unknown. Stepping into unfamiliar places can be scary and a little intimidating. Because most people want to know where they are going, when, and with whom they are going. However, God will tell you to go to a strange place, a place that you’ve never been to before, and do something you’ve never done before. Why do you think that is. It’s because when you go into a strange place or unfamiliar territory who do you have to depend on? Who gets the ultimate glory? You got it, God! The fact that you don’t know where you’re going or what you’re going to do when you get there means that you have to totally depend on God to guide you.
You will most likely not hear an audible voice or command telling you to leave your home, family, or friends. Sometimes your circumstances will force you into a strange place. Ruth was a Moabites woman who lived in Moab and she married into a Jewish family. However, over a period of time circumstances in Ruth’s life changed? Her father-in-law died, then her husband, and lastly her brother-in-law died. God didn’t speak to Ruth and tell her to go to a strange country but her circumstances forced her to go into a strange place. Because of all that had happened to them Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law decided to leave Moab and return to Bethlehem, the house of bread. Ruth decided to leave Moab too and accompany her mother-in-law, Naomi, to a strange place. Ruth left her family and friends to embrace the God of her mother-in-law. She didn’t hear a direct word from God but her circumstances moved her to go to a strange place. Sometimes life’s circumstances will land you in a strange place a place that is unfamiliar a place that is inexplicable (not possible to explain). What happens when you go to a new place? You become more aware of your surroundings? You become more aware of everything and You will pay closer attention to the instructions and directions given.
