Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. (Genesis 12: 1, 4)

"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you." - Saint Augustine

I am constantly trying to figure out what it is that God wants me to do, and I never really feel like I know. So I daily remind myself of St. Augustine’s words and I try to follow them.

I will admit that for me, it’s hard to put my trust in God when it seems like so much actually does depend on me. The day to day activities of life are not items that I can place in God’s hands as I sit in trusting and contemplative prayer.

There have been many times when I’ve wished for a clear message from God, complete with the promise of blessing, protection, and guidance, like the one that Abram received. God clearly said go! I will show you the way. And Abram went, no questions asked.

If you read the whole story of Abram, who became Abraham, you will notice that Abram didn’t always trust God. Abraham didn’t always know what God wanted him to do. And so sometimes Abraham got it right, and sometimes he got it wrong. The good news for Abraham, and for us, is that God stuck with Abraham when he was doing what God wanted him to do, and then when Abraham messed up, God was there, too.

We need to live our lives, work as though everything depends on us, and trust God to be God, and pray as though everything depends on God. In the Book of Faith Series bible study on Genesis, Catherine Malotky writes, “the challenge is to trust God implicitly and still live proactively. This is the nature of the covenant God has established with us. Like Abraham, we are on a journey of faith. Faith is not something we tidily achieve and then set aside.” (Leader’s Guide, p. 38)

We will never know in this life exactly what God expects of us each day, so we journey on in faith and trust. We actually DO have a clear message from God; complete with the promise of blessing, protection, and guidance. His name is Jesus.

Prayer for the journey

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that my desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Thomas Merton (1915-1968)