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As I read Abram’s call story in Genesis 12:1-9, I am reminded that we discern as we go. Discernment is a process, one often filled with unexpected detours that can take us into unfamiliar territory. We don’t stay stationary in life waiting to hear from God. Instead, we engage in a fluid process of listening and moving at the same time.
When Abram heard from God, he didn’t hear much to start. He knew God was going to bless him. God told him, “Go to the land I will show you.” Oftentimes, we struggle in our discernment because we try to understand the whole plan before we move forward.
We want to know all the answers before we will go where God is trying to send us but the reality is most times we have to move our feet before we can see the next step. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” We have to believe the promises of God enough to go where God leads us even if it is unspecific and unfamiliar.
This message is excerpted from “Faith reflections: Discerning as we go” by Tiffany C. Chaney in the February 2015 Café online magazine.