Read Gen. 12:1-4 and Hebrews 11:6, 8-12
Do you want to please God? I know that many of you, myself included, want this desperately! Hebrews 11:6 tells us exactly how we can please our Lord...by having faith! The more I read through the Gospels, the more I notice how often Jesus commends people for their faith. It seems that this is the thing He praises people for the most. It is such a simple thing, but it can be so difficult to do. I can't count the number of times I have had to repent for my lack of faith or pray for God to increase my faith.
Though there are tons of examples in Scripture of people having great faith (read Hebrews 11 in its entirety to see a "faith hall of fame"), I especially look to Abraham as a man of astounding faith. There are so many examples of this in his life. One of these is found in Genesis 12:1-4, when God calls Abraham to go to a foreign land and promises to make him into a great nation. This is the same story referred to later in Hebrews 11:8-12. Leaving your home is a difficult thing to do. Abraham had to travel from his hometown, leave his relatives and friends, and uproot his family to settle in a foreign land he knew nothing about. People couldn't travel nearly as easily or communicate with each other very much from a distance back then; this would make the separation a lot harder than it would be for us today. God doesn't give Abraham the specifics of His plan, and I'm sure he had tons of unanswered questions. Nevertheless, Abraham placed his trust in God and faithfully carried out his request.
Furthermore, while God promises to make Abraham into a great nation, Abraham is 75 years old and childless at the time. It would seem impossible for such a thing to be accomplished in a man so late in life, but Abraham believed God and trusted Him in this area as well! We find out later in Genesis 21:5, that Abraham was 100 when his son Isaac was born to him, which means he had 25 long years of waiting on God to fulfill His promise. Talk about a true test of faith!
Having faith can be so hard to do. I would rather know what is going to happen before I step out and do something God has called me to do. But that wouldn't be faith at all! Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as "being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see." Are you certain of what you can't see? Do you truly believe that God knows best, and that if He is calling you to do something, that there is nothing better for you? It's easy to say that you have faith in God, but your true heart is revealed when that faith is tested. If you truly believe that God is good, perfect, faithful, loving, and has a plan for your life, then following His will shouldn't be so hard afterall...even when you don't know what's coming next.
