Genesis 15 | The One Who Brings Us Out To Bring Us In

Life is a series of going out and going in. Your whole life consists of transitions from one stage to the next, from one place to the next.

A child leaves childhood and moves into teenage years and then adulthood. When we start a new job, we leave the old employment behind. We move from one house to another. We go from one understanding in our thinking over time, leaving our old ideas in the past.

Many of these steps are orchestrated by the Lord Himself. Our very bodies are a testimony to His creative hand that is designed for these transitions.

Some rebel against God and His directives, and they move to places of their own choosing. They move away from Him and experience the consequences of a life without God’s direction.

But for those who are intent upon Him, the Lord is the One who orders our steps. Notice God’s word to Abraham.

And God said to Abraham, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.” (Genesis 15:7)

I AM

… is the foundational description of God. It is the root of the holiest word for God: Yahweh. It is an all-inclusive statement reminding us of His eternal existence but also of His completeness. Add any holy descriptor behind it: I AM Creator; I AM Provider; I AM all-powerful … and on and on. We must understand and believe this, for it is the basis for all His good gifts to us.

WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT

God knows we need to be delivered. We need to be taken out of a life without Him, from our sin, from destructive habits, from foolish wandering. If this does not occur, we are left to a merely humanistic life, far removed from what He designed us to experience.

TO GIVE YOU

God does not merely take us out from something for no reason. He takes us out so He can take us into new places, new relationships, new experiences, new usefulness.

The most remarkable illustration of this is our salvation. He took us from “the kingdom of darkness INTO the kingdom of His dear Son.” He delivered us from bondage to freedom. From hell to heaven. From death to life. This is always His way—to move us from our sinful ways to His glorious plans.

Like Abraham, when He invites us to leave something (the land of Chaldeans), we must trust the great I AM. We must believe that He is taking us out so He can take us in and that the places, though sometimes hard, are always for our good and His glory. Even death for the believer is not decay and defeat; it is God leading us to the most fantastic transition of all.

What is He asking you to leave today so that He can bring you into something more? Trust Him. He’s the great I AM.

Father, thank You that You are always leading us forward, progressing more and more to the very best for our lives. Forgive us for our constant questioning of Your leadership. Bring us to the point where we follow You with no reservations and help us to look forward with joyful expectation for the next chapter of Your choosing.