THE SACRED SOIL

(Post by: Lilly Hobbs)

Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time wrestling with the story of Abraham. I’m preparing to teach this story to a group of middle school students at LifeWise, and the more I sit with it, the more I realize how much there is for us to learn from a story we often teach to children.

In Genesis 12, God calls Abraham to leave everything familiar and go somewhere he has never been before. God gives him a promise but refuses to share a detailed plan. Abraham has to trust the Lord without ever knowing exactly how everything will unfold.

And honestly, how often do we struggle with that?

We want to know where we’re going, when we’ll get there, and whether all the waiting will eventually be worth it. We want God to show us the finished picture, and we get so caught up in figuring out our futures that we forget to be faithful in the season we’re actually living in.

However, Abraham’s story doesn’t end with one act of obedience. It includes years of waiting for the son God had promised him. Years of wondering how the promise would come to pass. And moments when Abraham and Sarah became impatient enough to try to make things happen themselves.

I think there’s something painfully relatable about that. How many times have we tried to force a relationship, rush a season, or take control because God’s timing felt incredibly slow? How often have we mistaken waiting for being stuck?

I’ve been thinking about how much of our lives happen beneath the surface. The prayers no one else hears. The obedience no one sees or applauds. The character being formed in ordinary, seemingly insignificant days. We live in a world that celebrates visible progress, and it’s easy to believe that if nothing exciting is happening, nothing meaningful is happening either.

And perhaps that’s what makes Abraham’s story so important. His faith wasn’t perfect, and his journey wasn’t easy. He had to learn to trust the Lord through uncertainty, disappointment, and circumstances he couldn’t control.

His story reminds us that faithfulness isn’t about having everything figured out. It’s about relying on the Lord’s faithfulness in order for our own to be sustained.

What if the season you’re frustrated with is doing more in you than you realize? What if the ordinary work you’re doing today is preparing you for something you cannot yet see? And what if God’s faithfulness isn’t measured by how quickly He gives you what you want, but by how He teaches you to trust Him along the way?

I don’t know what season you’re in right now. Maybe you’re waiting for an answer, searching for direction, or watching everyone around you seem to move forward while you feel utterly stuck. Maybe you’re tempted to force something because you’re tired of waiting.

But I keep coming back to this thought: Don’t rush what God is rooting. Where you are can be sacred soil if you allow it to be.

Be faithful where He has placed you. Let Jesus work on your character, your heart, and your faith, even when the process feels slow.

You may not see the fruit today. You may never fully know how your quiet obedience will influence someone else.

As I prepare to teach middle school students about Abraham, I’m realizing that this lesson isn’t just for them. It’s for me, too.

Maybe growing in faith means learning to stop asking God to hurry up all the time. Perhaps you’re standing on sacred soil. Take off your shoes and stay a while.