Called to Step Into the Unknown

Genesis 12 marks a turning point in the biblical story. After eleven chapters of “pre-history” — timeless stories about God and humanity — God enters human history by forming a covenant relationship with one family: Abraham and Sarah. Through this family, God would be known to the world and bring blessing to all nations.

“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” – Genesis 12:1–3

God’s first command to Abram is simple but profound: Go. Leave. Step out into the unknown. It’s a call that resonates with anyone who has faced uncertainty — leaving a job, moving to a new place, or stepping into an unfamiliar future.

Leaving More Than a Place

Interestingly, Abram had already left his homeland of Ur before God spoke these words. This raises a question: What more was God asking him to leave? Author Rob Bell notes that Abram wasn’t just leaving a place — he was leaving behind a whole worldview.

In Abram’s time, people believed in many gods — gods of sun, rain, crops — each requiring sacrifices to be appeased. This religious system was rooted in fear and anxiety. God’s call to Abram was a call to leave that system behind and embrace a relationship with the one true God — a God of grace, not appeasement.

Abram was also asked to leave behind his hopelessness. He and Sarai were old and childless, believing their story was over. Yet God invited them to imagine a future where there had seemed to be none.

Letting Go of Security

Leaving isn’t just physical. When I moved my family to Guatemala, we left behind more than jobs, a house, and a church. We left behind the security of self-reliance — networks, language, and familiarity. We had to depend on the kindness of strangers and the grace of God in new ways.

That’s what God does when He asks us to leave behind crutches, burdens, or illusions of control. It’s only when we let go that we become able to receive something new — the radical gift of God’s grace.

“I will bless you… I will make your name great…” – Genesis 12:2

Abram and Sarai brought nothing to the table — no land, no children, no special qualifications. Their only contribution was their willingness to step out.

A Pattern of Faith

Abram and Sarai were the first of many called to leave in order to experience God’s grace — from the Israelites in the Exodus, to the disciples who left everything to follow Jesus, to the early missionaries in Acts.

Even baptism uses this language of leaving and embracing:

• “Do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil?” (leaving)
• “Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior?” (embracing)

Leaving is essential to knowing the God of grace. It doesn’t always mean physical relocation. Sometimes it means leaving behind fear, scarcity thinking, hopelessness, or false security.

Stepping Out as a Church

Our presbytery’s Ezra 3 Project is an example of stepping out together. Churches across our region are reimagining how to use their buildings and resources to serve their communities. But to move forward, we must leave behind old assumptions — that past programs are the only way forward, or that the church has no future.

The good news is that with the God who raised Jesus from the dead, there is always a future. Even if transformation comes after we are gone, stepping out in faith makes us part of God’s vision for a world filled with peace, justice, love, and hope.

May we step out — in our lives and as a church — into the unknown with confidence. Amen.