Go Forth, Believe and Obey

Our first hiking day has come to a close, and I think it’s safe to say that everyone has already been amazed by God’s power and majesty. Today we traveled to several different locations including, Beersheba, Nahal Zin, and Maktesh Rimon. In Beersheba, we talked about Abram and his faithfulness to God. Abram was asked to give up everything that was familiar to him; his family, his identity, his home, in order to follow God’s direction. And he did, without hesitation. In Nahal Zin and Maktesh Rimon, we talked about Moses and how his relationship with God compared to that of Abram’s. Moses was more hesitant to follow God’s direction, trying to get out of having to do anything he wasn’t comfortable with. What’s so amazing though, is that whether or not Moses obeyed, God still provided for his people. In 2 Timothy 2:13, it says, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” While this is a really big comfort, we also talked about the importance of trusting in God to the extent that we obey his commands no matter what. In Hebrew, the word ‘emunah’ means to believe, not just to believe in your head, but to believe as to obey. This is how God calls us to behave in accordance to his will; it is up to us to decide whether or not we are going to take that step and ‘emunah’.

This entire day has already been an incredibly impactful experience, but one of the things that really spoke to me was the first thing we talked about today. We learned the phrase “Lekh Lekhah”, which means ‘go forth’ or literally ‘go take yourself’. This means that we should go and trust God with everything, despite our comfort level or our concern with the outcome. We should be willing to walk wherever God calls us. This phrase came into an even stronger focus for me after we finished hiking up one of the mountains today. Upon getting to the top and looking into the valley, we saw an animal called the Nubian Ibex. In Habakkuk 3:19, it is written,

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”

The deer mentioned in this passage is actually the Nubian Ibex. God crafted this animal for a specific purpose and with specific characteristics to help fulfill that purpose. In the same way, God has made each of us for an individual purpose, He has given us each certain qualities to fulfill these purposes, and He is calling each of us to follow Him in whatever direction He calls us. He has already enabled us to ‘tread on the heights’, we just need to make the decision to ‘lekh lekhah’ and fully put our trust in Him.

With this in mind for the rest of our time here in Israel, I am beyond excited to see where and how God calls each of us, individually and as a team, here and back at home. With how much excitement, laughter, learning, and new friendships this day has held, I can’t wait to see where God has us by the end of our journey.

-Kelsey York