“You must be crazy!” Ever shared your dream with someone who responded with those words? Mad men dream mad dreams and do mad things, such as take off on a journey to a place they’ve never seen, with no guarantee of happiness, to chase God through the wilderness.
Abraham was a mad man. He was crazy enough to say “yes” to a challenge almost none of us would accept… in our right minds.
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. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the LORD, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the LORD, and he worshiped the LORD.
How was Abraham “mad” about adventure?
- Abraham lived for the adventure of following God anywhere, before he even had any idea where he was going.
- Abraham lived free of enslaving attachments. Following God doesn’t always require that we leave our homeland and everything familiar, but when it does, we need a loose grip on everything but Him.
- Abraham lived on God’s promises, even when he didn’t see them fulfilled in the short term. He trusted in a longer term reward than his own lifetime.
- Abraham lived to worship the one true God in the middle of a pagan culture, and even with his up’s and down’s, always came back to a place of prayer.
As we mad men live our lives, we need to see it as an adventure, even when it gets really tough. We rarely look back and celebrate the days that were normal and routine. We celebrate the times when we grew, overcame, persevered, and learned great lessons from God.
What adventure is God calling you into?
This is an abbreviated version of what we talked about in one of our men’s Grace Groups. To hear updates on when and where to join a men’s group, check out the Grace Hills Men Facebook page.