Anchored in Trust Genesis 12:1-9
Anchored in Trust
Genesis 12:1-9
Rev. Dr. Rhonda Abbott Blevins
November 16, 2025
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.
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Imagine that you are a couple of miles out in the ocean. You’ve got two rowboats, and you are standing with one foot in each boat. One boat, however, is filled with holes and is sinking quickly. Unless you do something, and fast, you will soon be in the water!
There are times in the life of faith that feel just like this. The boat with the holes represents everything we know, everything we hold dear, our values, our ideologies, our very ego—everything that is impermanent. The boat without holes represents the eternal, what we in the church call God or Christ.
Straddling the two boats, it’s daunting to shift our equilibrium. “Will I fall in if I take this step?” However, it’s even more daunting to keep one foot in the sinking ship. You must make a leap—a leap of faith.
Today we explore the life of someone who exemplified trusting in God and taking a leap of faith. His leap of faith earned him a mention in the New Testament book of Hebrews 11:8: “he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going.” Who am I talking about? Abraham.
It’s Abraham’s “not knowing” I want us to focus on today. Now, this is completely counterintuitive, but this path of “not knowing” appears to be the path of faith that leads to life.
Abraham “set out, not knowing where he was going.”
Have you ever “set out, not knowing where” you were going? You didn’t know where you were going but you knew you couldn’t stay? Maybe when you left home for the first time. Maybe when you quit that job without having another one lined up. Maybe when you got married or divorced or widowed.
When I think of what it means to trust God when you can’t see the whole path ahead, I think of a scene from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Indiana Jones needs to reach the Holy Grail to save his dying father, but he comes to what appears to be an impossible chasm—a gap too wide to cross, with nothing but empty air and a deadly fall below.
His father’s journal gives him a clue: “Only in the leap from the lion’s head will he prove his worth.” It’s called the “leap of faith.” Let’s roll this clip . . .
[Show video clip: Indiana Jones taking the leap of faith]
Could you have done it? Could you have taken that leap of faith that Indiana Jones took, stepping out into what looks like empty air? Of course the moment his foot lands, a bridge appears—it had been there all along, perfectly camouflaged as an optical illusion. He couldn’t see it until he trusted enough to take that first step.
That’s what trust looks like. Taking the step before you can see the bridge.
And that’s exactly what God asked of Abraham about four thousand years ago.
Genesis 12 opens with these stunning words: “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.’”
Let’s pause there. “Go...to the land that I will show you.”
Not “Go to this specific place I’m about to describe in detail with GPS coordinates and a roadmap.” Not “Go to this destination, and here’s exactly what you’ll find when you get there.”
Just: “Go. I’ll show you when you get there.”
Abraham set out, not knowing where he was going.
Abram was seventy-five years old. He was settled in Haran with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his possessions. He had a life. He had a home. He had stability.
And God said: “Leave it all. Go somewhere I’m not going to tell you about yet. Trust me.”
Think about the boat metaphor I opened with. Abram was standing with one foot in each boat—one foot in everything he knew, everything familiar and comfortable, and one foot in . . . he didn’t even know what. Just a promise. Just a voice. Just God saying “Go.”
And here’s what verse 4 says: “So Abram went, as the LORD had told him.”
He went.
He made the leap. He shifted his full weight into the boat without holes—into trust, into the eternal, into God.
He didn’t demand a detailed explanation. He didn’t insist on a five-year plan with contingencies. He didn’t wait until all his questions were answered and all his fears were calmed.
He took the leap of faith. He stepped out into what looked like empty air, trusting that God would provide the bridge.
Now, God didn’t send Abram out with nothing. He gave him promises—big, expansive, almost unbelievable promises:
“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3)
A great nation. A great name. Blessing for all the families of the earth.
There was just one problem: Abram and Sarai had no children. They were elderly. How exactly was God going to make them into a great nation?
Abram didn’t know. But he trusted the One who promised.
This is what trust looks like: moving forward on God’s promises even when you can’t see how God will possibly fulfill them. Straddling two boats—one foot in what you know, one foot in what God promises—and then making the leap entirely into trust.
So Abram set out. Genesis 12:5 tells us he took Sarai, Lot, all their possessions, and all the people they had acquired in Haran, and they journeyed to the land of Canaan.
When they arrived, verse 6 says, “Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.”
Translation: The “promised land” was already occupied. This wasn’t some empty paradise waiting for Abram to move in. There were people there. Challenges. Complications. The boat he’d leaped into still had some water in it!
But God appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”
And what did Abram do? Verse 7: “So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.”
He worshiped. In the midst of uncertainty, in a foreign land surrounded by strangers, not knowing how any of this would work out—Abram built an altar and worshiped God.
Then he moved on to the hill country between Bethel and Ai, pitched his tent, built another altar, and called on the name of the LORD (v. 8).
This became Abram’s pattern: Move when God says move. Stop when God says stop. Build altars. Worship. Trust. Repeat.
He didn’t have the whole map. He just had the next step. And he took it.
One foot out of the sinking boat. One foot into the boat of faith. Then the other foot. Then both feet firmly planted in trust.
Friends, we live in what I’ve been calling VUCA times—times of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. We’re living through a polycrisis where it feels like the ground beneath our feet—or the boats beneath our feet—are constantly shifting.
Many of us are straddling two boats right now. One foot in what we’ve always known, what feels safe and familiar. One foot tentatively reaching toward something new, something God might be calling us toward, something that requires trust.
And the leap feels terrifying.
Into these anxious, uncertain times, the story of Abram speaks a powerful word: You don’t need to see the whole path. You just need to trust the One who’s calling you forward.
Now, trust doesn’t mean we ignore practical wisdom. Remember, I’ve been talking all series about adjusting our sails and directing our rudders—about evidence-based practices that help us navigate VUCA times.
For instance, we know that people who spend excessive time consuming news report significantly higher levels of anxiety and physical ailments compared to those who limit their media intake.
Part of trust is trusting that God has given us wisdom about how to care for ourselves. Setting boundaries around media isn’t lack of faith—it’s faithful stewardship of our mental health.
Similarly, research has found that people who practiced spiritual meditation showed greater decreases in anxiety and stress, and people who pray to a loving and protective God are significantly less likely to experience anxiety-related disorders.
Trust includes trusting that spiritual practices actually work. When we pray, when we meditate on Scripture, when we worship—we’re building altars like Abram did. We’re anchoring ourselves in God.
And here’s something else: Research found that people who reported a positive sense of community had significantly lower odds of experiencing depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms.
Notice that Abram didn’t make this leap alone. He took Sarai, Lot, his whole household. Trust means trusting community, not just trusting in your individual courage.
THREE WAYS TO ANCHOR IN TRUST
So how do we anchor ourselves in trust like Abram did? How do we make the leap from the sinking boat to the boat of faith? Let me suggest three practices:
1. Take the First Step Without Seeing the Whole Staircase
Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Abram didn’t see the whole staircase. He saw one step: “Leave.” So he left.
You may be facing a decision right now where you’re straddling two boats. You know you can’t stay where you are—that boat is sinking. But you can’t quite see the other boat clearly enough to trust it.
Maybe God is calling you to:
· Leave a toxic situation
· Pursue a new direction in your career
· Repair a broken relationship
· Take a risk for the sake of justice
· Step into leadership you don’t feel qualified for
· Finally deal with that addiction, that secret, that burden you’ve been carrying
You’re waiting to see the whole path before you move. But trust doesn’t work that way. Trust says: I’ll take this next step, and trust God for the one after that.
Like Indiana Jones stepping out over the chasm, sometimes you have to move before you can see the bridge.
You don’t need to see where you’re going. You just need to know who’s calling you. And you need to take that first step.
2. Build Altars Along the Way
Notice what Abram did repeatedly: he built altars. He stopped. He worshiped. He remembered who called him and who was with him.
Every time God showed up, Abram marked it. He created a physical reminder: “God met me here.”
In our VUCA world, we need to build altars—we need regular practices that remind us who we’re trusting.
For you, that might mean:
· Starting each day with gratitude, naming three things you’re thankful for
· Keeping a journal of how God has been faithful in the past
· Regular worship with a community that reminds you you’re not alone
· Creating rituals that ground you when everything feels chaotic
This is how you stay anchored in trust. Not by white-knuckling your way through fear, but by building altars that remind you who holds you.
3. Remember: God Goes With You
Here’s what I want you to hear: God didn’t just send Abram out and say “good luck!” God went with him.
Every time Abram moved, God appeared. At Shechem, “the LORD appeared to Abram” (v. 7). God kept showing up.
You’re not making this leap alone. The God who calls you forward is the God who goes with you.
When you step out of the sinking boat—out of the familiar, the comfortable, the safe—and into the boat of trust, you’re not stepping into emptiness. You’re stepping into God’s presence.
Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). That’s the promise. You go, not knowing where you’re going—but you know WHO is with you.
And that changes everything.
CONCLUSION: MAKE THE LEAP
So here’s the invitation: What’s your leap of faith? Where are you straddling two boats right now?
What’s the step God is asking you to take, even though you can’t see the whole path?
Maybe it’s finally having that hard conversation. Maybe it’s pursuing that calling you’ve been ignoring. Maybe it’s letting go of something you’ve been clinging to for security. Maybe it’s trusting God with your finances, your health, your future, your children. Maybe it’s simply trusting that God’s got this, even when everything feels out of control.
Whatever it is, I want to tell you what God told Abram: “Go...to the land that I will show you.”
You don’t need to see it all. You just need to take the step.
And here’s the promise: When you step out in trust, you’ll find the bridge was there all along. God goes before you. God walks beside you. God will show you the way.
The boat without holes—the boat of trust, the boat of faith, the boat of God’s promises—that boat will hold you.
So make the leap.
Shift your weight.
Take your foot out of the sinking boat of fear and control and certainty.
Place both feet firmly in the boat of trust.
“He set out, not knowing where he was going.”
And so can you.
Be anchored in trust. Not trust in your own ability to figure it all out, but trust in the God who has called you, who loves you, who will never let you go.
Take the leap. God’s got you.