Obedience to God Inspires Fulfillment of the Vision

 "I am God, the God of your father," he said. "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.  I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph's own hand will close your eyes." -Genesis 46:3, 4

 We need to look carefully at what God as telling Jacob to do.  The Lord was not only giving Jacob a renewed vision, but God was again making a promise; that He would help Jacob, empower him, guide him, and be with him.  Again, we see these similarities in what God promised Jacob back in Genesis chapter 28.  Just as God accomplished all of that back then, He would do so again.  There is no so much as a hint that Jacob questioned God and considered not going forward as the Lord instructed him.  Some might have said, “Lord, I’m too old for this, I’m getting tired, I would like to stay in one place for a while, and all this moving forward is just wearing me out.”  It’s easy for us to start to feel that way.  About the time we get comfortable where we are – lo and behold the Lord lays before us yet something else He wants us to accomplish; a vision of what He would have us to do.  But let me remind us of something; for the follower of Christ that is to be expected.  Jesus has not called us to stagnate, but to grow.  He has not called us to stay where we are, but rather to move forward. The Lord has not called us to cower in fear, but to rise up in faith. 
 

This is what Jacob was doing.  He was trusting God and moving forward.  He was realizing that comfort and ease and a half-hearted commitment will not bring us to the spiritual victories the Lord envisions for us.  Christ has not called us to the mundane but to the miraculous.  God is faithful and as His followers we are called to be faithful.

 

Jacob understood that God had given him a vision, and in order for the vision to be fulfilled, Jacob had to be obedient.  He would go forward as the Lord has told him.  There is a powerful spiritual application for us there as well.  When we are obedient to what God tells us to do we are inspired to move toward the vision.  Many people never see the vision God gave them fulfilled because they never pursued it to begin with. It looked so great, so large, so overwhelming, that they drew back and chose not to attempt it.  I read a quote from Earnest Hemmingway that I thought to be most profound.  He said that whenever he got discouraged, he went back and read some of the books he’d already written, and when he recalled how hard it was to write them, he was then inspired to keep trying.  He knew that since he had done it before, he could do it again.

When I get discouraged, I contemplate the victories God has brought about in my life, and I am inspired to keep going – God did it before He can do it again. Never doubt it, and don't stop believing.