Sister Act

[Genesis 12:1-4]
And here we meet Abram.We don't get a ton of backstory, but it starts with God telling him "pack your things and start walking. I'll tell you when you get where I want you." Now, I think this is an awesome idea for a road trip, but as the next step in your life I can image it would be fairly intimidating. Granted, it did come with fancy promise that he was going to be the start of a big nation and that he was going to have divine protection from anyone that may try to mess with him, so that probably helped, but it still takes some guts to pack up your family and move out "that-a-way!"
On top of all this, Abram was 75 years old, which seems like a bit late to start your nation-building project, since nation-building involves lots of fighting and baby-making, which you're not quite as good at in your 70's than you are earlier in your life.
We have a hard enough time doing what God tells us when it's something as simple as "go tell this to that person" or "give that guy five dollars" or "stop being such a jerk all of the freaking time." We like to completely discount the idea of God telling you what your next step in life is and make it some weird puzzle based on your talents. We won't do some of these even when God does give you a specific reason and outcome, and yet Abram packs his family up and headed off to Canaan. There's a reason Abram becomes a shining example of faith later on.

[12: 5-9]
While trekking through Canaan, God reveals that eventually this land is going to belong to Abram's descendants, giving Abram a hint of the size of what was to come from this journey. Abram finds a good camping spot, and builds an altar to God there. Nothing had really happened yet other than God saying what the plan was, but Abram built an altar regardless.
Usually, even if it's a day or so before payday, I can do my budget because I've calculated the hours I've gotten and have a good idea of how much goes out for taxes. I don't have the check yet, and the possibility exists that I'll go to work the next day and the owners have run away with the money and burned the place to the ground, but I have enough faith in the agreement we have to know I'll get paid and plan for it in advance. Abram hadn't seen any evidence of this nation he was going to father beyond God saying it was going to happen, but he had enough faith to build an altar anyway thanking God for it. When God tells you something, you can plan around it immediately.
Early on in your Christian walk, it makes sense to be hesitant because you're new and haven't seen enough to really be certain of how this all works. But eventually, you should have enough confidence in God's word to know that, when He tells you something, it's going to happen, and you can start thanking Him for it and planning around it the moment He says.

[12: 10-20]
This is a weird little story, and it actually happens again later. They're going through Egypt, and Abram is afraid that his wife is so unbelievably hot that Pharaoh would have him killed to get to his wife. Since Abram was 75 at the time, it makes sense that Sarai was somewhere around there, so she had to be some kind of knockout to still be that paranoia-inducing gorgeous in at least her 60's.
To avoid being killed, Abram passes Sarai off as his sister rather than his wife. At first it seems like this could just be an old man flattering his old wife, but no, shortly after they enter Egypt Pharaoh takes a liking to her and decides she's going to stay with him. During her stay, the Egyptians treat Abram very well, I guess as a thank-you for having such a hot sister. However, since God already promised that things would not go well for anyone that messes with Abram, Pharaoh starts having some plagues in his house for messing with Abram's wife. When he finds out what's happened, he's pissed off, but doesn't want to mess with these guys any further since they seem to have some kind of divine shield over them, so he just kicks them out.
This whole stunt seems a bit silly, but I think this happened as a first sign to Abram that God was serious when He said that "I will curse those who curse you." If Abram had thought it through some more, he probably would have seen that the whole sister act (teehee) wasn't necessary, because God had already said He was going to fight on Abram's side. Instead they had to step through the whole awkwardness of this situation and bring some plagues on Pharaoh's house that may not have had to happen otherwise. But this served as a good lesson for Abram, that God was going to protect him.