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.”  Genesis 12:1-3

*God changed his name to Abraham later

All three of our monotheistic religions; Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim Abraham as a patriarch. As bad as their conflicts have been over the centuries, these faiths have much in common.

I was thinking about Father Abraham this week. Usually, the focus is on his faith as he heard this call from God, picked up his family and went out into who knows where in obedience. It’s always been a foundational lesson that we’ve heard over and over again. Very important. But you realize he had never attended VBS. He didn’t have a Bible to consult. There was not Wednesday night prayer meeting to lay it all out before. Faith in God was just starting. He was going to be one of the pioneers.

What I kept thinking about this week was all the loss that he had to have experienced. This typically gets ignored in our trumpet blowing about his wonderful example of faith. He and his people left behind all that they knew and drew comfort from, packed up a new kind of life, and headed out into uncertainty. Remember, the only one who heard any heavenly directions was Abraham.

He was living in a town, not out on the prairie ranching. He was herding some cattle, but living in a town meant he was probably doing some other sorts of business with his extended family. Maybe he was trading? Maybe he was setting up a chain of coffee shops? What if there were craftsmen in the family? People live in towns because being around populations of people because it’s good for business.

Abraham was leaving behind a whole way of life and starting up a new one. They had to cash in their valuables, real estate, fancy clothes, etc. and head over to the the Academy store to buy a bunch of tents and Levi’s. They were going to live “on the move” and in uncertainty instead of the predictable comfort of daily routines.

They had been living a life surrounded by familiar family and friends and were now heading out with just their immediate group – even though that was much larger than what we think of as a nuclear family. For some reason they took nephew Lot with them. So that made the group a little larger. Maybe he was the black sheep of the larger family and all were happy to have him hit the road?

What you don’t realize you need until it’s no longer there is the wise counsel your family (dad) provides when needed. Abraham left his father, we call this the family of orientation – the group you’re born into – it helps you get your bearings in the world. Well, Abraham would no longer have a compass to depend on when making decisions while on the move (on the run) in a foreign land.

Everyone had to learn how to sleep on the ground, eat new sorts of food, figure out how to read those setting up a tent instructions, there was no internet in Canaan land! Have you ever had the experience of being the new kid introduced to the class? Trying to fit in to your new neighborhood where all the kids already know each other and have friends? Abraham’s family were always going to be the new kids in town. They left behind their status and situation in Haran. Something they were always reminded of when they packed up and moved on when the grazing seasons changed.

I’m sure it was an adventure in many ways but this week I was thinking about the constant sense of loss that Abraham and his family had to always experience with each move. I grew up in a military city – a lot of friends who spent their growing up years moving around when new orders to pack up and head to a different base arrived. I went off to college in a new town and then once we got married, we lived in three different cities during our 35 years of marriage. But never in a tent with livestock!

God was right beside Abraham all along the way as he moved through what would be known as the Promised Land. He made a big promise to Abraham. It has been shaking the earth ever since. That whole family carried their loss with them and never experienced the fulfillment of God’s promise first hand. But they went out and carried all their luggage in faith.

“Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things.” ― Arthur Schopenhauer

We all know loss, one way or another. We all walk into the unknown at times. These days, when I take my steps into the mysterious tomorrow, friends are always asking about my big plan. I wonder what Abraham kept hollering to everyone in the backseat when they kept asking him the same question?

The path we walk is charted by faith, not by what we see with our eyes. 
2 Corinthians 5:7