It is simply stated in a few sentences, but surely, it is an impressive event when God calls someone to leave hearth and home and go to a land that He is yet to show him.
In our days it is quite an event, but in Abrams days, it was something unheard of! For whoever left his country also left his gods. It is comparable with the impressive venture of a journey into space. Actually, it is even more than that. For before the first astronauts went into space, a lot of exploratory flights had been made. Experiments with animals had proven that the danger for humans was minimal. How entirely different it was for Abram. The only thing he knew for sure was that God called him to leave, and he did not know where the journey would end…
This is a clear example of what faith does. When God calls us out of darkness into His wonderful light, we know the starting point, but we do not know where this submission in faith will lead us to.
When God calls someone to His service, He often calls upon someone who is not trained for that field of service. In the Bible we read that shepherds became kings, farmers became prophets and fishermen became apostles of Jesus. Yet - actually - this is understandable, for if Jesus had called teachers of the law and Pharisees to be apostles, they would not have been so utterly dependent on Him as those plain, illiterate fishermen from Galilee. However, what about Paul?
Of Paul it is written, that his encounter with Jesus made him realize that all his knowledge - acquired over the years - only stood in his way to become truly useful for God’s Kingdom in close communion with God.