A long time ago, I volunteered to help a new music director move into her new home. She was moving to take a job at my church, and a large group of us gathered at her house to help with the unloading of many boxes. One of my friends, an Army wife, showed up in a t-shirt that read “War is Hell, but Moving is a Close Second.” It still makes me laugh!

I spent the first eight years of my marriage moving around the country at the Navy’s behest. During the first two years, we moved four times. I never bothered to memorize my zip code…I just kept it handy in my purse, crossing each one off and adding the new one.

One of the many sacrifices our military service families makes is the willingness to move when and where needed. This probably goes under-appreciated by most people. But if you have ever served, you know the stress, anxiety, fatigue, and uncertainty of moving into a new community with all of your worldly goods, your kids, the dog, and memories of your last duty station and the friends you left behind. It can be heart-exhausting.

Genesis 12 (Contemporary English Version)

The Lord said to Abram:

Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. ² I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. ³ I will bless anyone who blesses you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you.

^4-5 Abram was seventy-five years old when the Lord told him to leave the city of Haran.

I am always amazed at Abram’s obedience. He left everything behind to follow God’s command. He staked everything he had on God’s promise that all would be well if he complied, and even believed that God would bless him as he said he would. And God did. We are the evidence of that.

This example of obedience is a great teaching for us today. Did you notice that he was 75 years old when he left the safety and security of his hometown to go where he was sent? What a wonderful reminder that God calls us at any time of life to follow him, and the wise ones respond with acceptance and joy mingled in with the trepidation.

What is God calling you to do? Where is he asking for obedience today? Are you hearing him telling you to leave something behind so that you can experience a new joy?

The cost of obedience is often high, but the cost of disobedience is even higher. God always has a plan for your life, and that plan is guaranteed to prosper you and not harm you. It is a plan to give you a future with HOPE. Is God calling? GO.