Into the Unknown

READ: GENESIS 12:1-9; HEBREWS 12:1-3

I grunted as I gazed through the viewport. Black space. Tiny white dots in the distance. Nothing new here. I side-eyed my dad. This was his fault. He acted like he knew where we were going. As he looked up from the blinking lights of the console, the silver commander’s tattoo on his bald scalp gleamed in the near darkness. “Still not speaking to me, Tai?”

I fingered one of my braids. He’d named me Tai—Swahili for eagle. I was born to fly, he always said. Born to explore the unknown. Though I wanted to continue my silence, I caved. “I’m concentrating. You gave me the helm after all.” It was what I’d aced in flight class. “How do you expect me to calculate the entry trajectory if I don’t know where to go?”

Dad laughed like I’d said something hilarious. “I gave you the vector to the jump point. We’ll make planetfall then. Just follow the coordinates.”

He acted like this was no big deal. But we were in the middle of nowhere space. I wasn’t sure our tiny ship could make it to the planet he claimed was in Rho Quadrant. I’d left everything behind in Gamma Quadrant. All because Dad claimed there was a planet that might have water—a precious commodity back home. Now there was no chance of me applying to advanced flight school when I turned eighteen—and maybe little chance of us surviving at all.

I broke the silence again. “There are too many unknown variables. What if we overshoot wherever we’re going?”

“Do you trust me?”

I took in a breath. I knew what he meant. I tensed my grip on the controls, then slowly let out my held breath. He’d always been there for me. He’d never let me down before.

“Jump point ahead,” I said. It was now or never. “Throttle up.”

The ship shook as it made the jump. Seconds later, there it was in front of us: a small, blue planet. That meant water. Maybe this would be a good place after all. • Linda Washington

• Today’s allegorical story echoes Genesis 12:1-9, when Abram—who was later called Abraham—heard from God, “Go…to the land that I will show you” (verse 1). God invited Abram to trust Him—to believe that God was good and loving and that He would provide like an attentive father. Why do you think Abram followed God?

• Later in the Bible, we see God’s goodness, love, and provision on full display when Jesus gave up His life for us on the cross. Because of Jesus, we can become God’s dear children. There may be times when our Father calls us to follow Him without knowing where we’re going, like He called Abram. Have you ever experienced something like this? What happened?

• Why can we trust our heavenly Father no matter what? (Hint: read Matthew 7:9-11; Romans 8:32-39; Philippians 4:12-13)

• As Christians, we know we will one day be raised from the dead to live with Jesus forever. What kind of life do we have to look forward to in eternity? And how can our confident hope for the future affect the way we follow Jesus now? (If you want to dig deeper, read Philippians 1:19-25; Hebrews 11:8-16; Revelation 21:1-7)

But I trust in your unfailing love. Psalm 13:5 (NLT)