Hebrews 11:8 – “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”
Faith is not only about leaving something behind; it is about pressing forward into what God has promised. Abraham shows us this truth. He left Ur at the call of God-not because he had a full map, but because he had a word. He did not know the destination, but he trusted the Caller. Faith was not just his departure from what was familiar, but his direction toward what was eternal.
But there are dangers when we confuse leaving with following. Lot’s wife is the warning. When God delivered her from Sodom, her body departed, but her heart remained. And either for curiosity or compassion she turned back, Luke 17:32 simply says, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Her glance backward turned into a posture of unbelief. She left, but she was not focused forward.
Jesus sharpened this truth in Luke 9:62: “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Faith requires forward vision. The plow only cuts straight lines when the eyes are fixed ahead. Looking backward makes the rows crooked. In the same way, a heart divided between past and future is unsteady in the kingdom, not in the right shape.
Israel in the wilderness gives us another example. God delivered them from Egypt with mighty signs, yet their constant longing was to go back-to the food, to the familiarity, even to their slavery. Their bodies had departed Egypt, but their direction was still backward. That backward glance cost a generation the promise of entering Canaan.
Faith is not nostalgia. It does not live off yesterday’s victories or long for yesterday’s comforts. Faith remembers God’s faithfulness, but it leans into God’s future. Abraham pitched his tents but kept looking forward to a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Faith is departure, but it is also direction. It leaves the past, but more importantly, it follows God forward.
Let’s pray-
Lord, help me to live like Abraham-willing to leave the familiar and step forward into what I cannot yet see. Guard me from the temptation of Lot’s wife, from looking back when You have called me on. Keep my hands steady on the plow, my eyes fixed forward, and my heart anchored in Your promise. May my faith not just leave the past but lean toward the city with foundations that You are building. In Jesus’ name, amen.
