Go, and Get Going!

Posted on by PJR

I’ve been studying the Hebrew language and have found it fascinating.  One of the phrases that caught my attention early was this that God spoke to Abram (before he left his country for the promised land and had his name changed to Abraham) In Genesis 12.  In most translations, it generally says: Go from your country.

In the Hebrew it says, לֶךְ־לְךָ֛, Lech-lecha.  The first word, in it’s full form of halech, means go.  So my Hebrew teacher joked that both words together mean, “Go, and get going.”  Which is what it looked like to me as a beginning Hebrew student.*

For me right now, this verse has great personal significance for me.  Almost 30 years ago, I moved overseas and began a long career as an expat teacher in foreign lands.  Just like Abram, I got going from my land.  I loved being a teacher of expats.  I was happy in a multi-national setting.  I loved the experience of worshipping with believers from literally all over the world.  I learned so much from that infusion of faith from these dear fellow believers.  I also learned from my friends of other faiths as they asked questions and answered mine.  Going was my way of life.  And what a life that was.

But here I am now, following the example of the Isaac, the son of Abraham, whom God told in Genesis 26, “Do NOT go down, but stay in the land.”  Not going.  I’ve retired from teaching abroad and now live back at home in the States.  I find this transition just as hard as, if not harder than, my first transition to life as a foreigner, or a sojourner, as the Bible says it.  It’s hard to stay when my heart has enjoyed the going.

So what is God telling you?  “Go, and get going!” or “Do not go down, but stay”?  Let me recommend that you follow the example of the son of Isaac.  When the opportunity to move to Egypt where his son Joseph was well established, Jacob stopped at Beersheba to ask God which he should do.  Stay or go?  It’s easy to get “go fever” once you’ve gone.  Just as it is easy to get comfortable and stay in the place in which you are.  Whichever it is for you, keep looking to God for your directions.

 

 

 

*For those who really want to know what the Hebrew says:  Once my understanding of Hebrew grammar improved to the point where started to recognize the suffix endings, I found the actual, literal translations of Lech-Lecha is actually “Go to-your” or “Go for-your”.  Which the translations saying “Go out” make sense since the next word is May-artsuh-kha, “from your land.”