ODJ: leaping from the enclosure

October 22, 2015 

READ: Genesis 12:1-8 

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you” (v.1).

The African impala is a deer-like creature that can jump to a height of 3 metres (nearly 10 feet) and cover a distance greater than 11 metres (36 feet) in one bound. Yet the impala can be kept in a zoo enclosure with just a 1 metre high wall. Why? Because it isn’t tall enough to peer over the barrier, and it won’t jump if it can’t see where its feet will land.

That’s like a lot of us—we often won’t take a leap of faith unless we can see where we’ll land. Abraham can show us another way.

Abraham was 75 when God’s call to leap came. He was old and childless, but he was called to found a new land and start a nation (Genesis 11:30, 12:1-8). God gave no details where Abraham was to walk or how he would have a child, saying only, “Go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation” (12:1-2, 17:5).

Leap from the enclosure, Abraham—leap!

Abraham leapt. He set out in faith (12:4-6), soon found his land (v.7), later had his son (21:1-5) and became the father of a great nation (Hebrews 11:12). God guided Abraham’s feet, but only after he took the leap of faith.

On three occasions I believe God has led me to leap from my comfortable enclosure. In each case I’ve left a secure job without knowing what lay ahead.

Leap from the enclosure, Sheridan—leap!

I will guide your feet, but first you must leap.

And in each case God has led me to a place of greater service and impact. I’m not a perfect role model, though. I’ve fretted about money and the future. But I’ve learned this about walking by faith: we’ll rarely know the outcome before we make the leap, and we’ll rarely know the destination before we begin to walk.

—Sheridan Voysey

365-day-plan: Acts 9:32-42