In chapter 12, we are introduced to the "Abrahamic Covenant." God tells Abram to leave his country, his extended family and go to some mystery land to be revealed later. God promises children (a nation), land, divine blessing and protection.
In great faith and obedience, Abram does it...at 75 years old. (I wonder if he remembered Great Grandfather Noah's faith?) Abram makes it to the land but has to leave because of famine. He goes to Egypt, and has a major lapse in trusting the Lord. Because his wife is beautiful and he fears the Egyptians might kill him to have her, he tells Sarai to pretend to be his sister. Sure enough, she is taken. I'm imagining the scene as she is being abducted and Abram says nothing, does nothing to defend her. That was some serious, paralyzing fear that prevented him from helping the person he most loved in the world. And later, he still doesn't have the courage and faith in God to rescue her. God finally intervenes.
I also notice that this failure happened after Abram made it to the promised land and built an alter to worship, basically establishing his worship of and faith in the one true God in the new land.
Abram was all in.
And then he goes to Egypt and fails the faith test. This seems to happen a lot in scripture. A believer will trust God, commit to God in a big way and then fail a big faith test (think Jacob, King Saul, Peter.)
God will test our faith. And the more times we are tested, the more we grow in our faith...
"Consider all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:3-4
Interestingly, when we fail faith tests, we experience God's grace and forgiveness covering our heavy guilt feelings. When we pass faith tests, we grow more in our love and trust in God because we see Him taking care of us.
Even the most Godly people have moments of failure. We are all broken people who make mistakes, but our God uses all those failures to grow us in our faith, for our good and ultimately, for His glory. Abram was a fairly new believer when this happened, but after many years of walking with God, we see later how Abram passed the ultimate faith test by his willingness to sacrifice Isaac.
Living it today: Thank the Lord for any trial today, knowing that testing produces endurance. Purpose to pass the test:)
Living it yesterday: Believing I'm too busy to take on any new responsibilities, I've resisted committing to any new teaching responsibilities. But knowing my spiritual gifts are teaching and encouraging, I've committed to leading a much needed women's Bible study in the fall with Mrs. Meredith.
In great faith and obedience, Abram does it...at 75 years old. (I wonder if he remembered Great Grandfather Noah's faith?) Abram makes it to the land but has to leave because of famine. He goes to Egypt, and has a major lapse in trusting the Lord. Because his wife is beautiful and he fears the Egyptians might kill him to have her, he tells Sarai to pretend to be his sister. Sure enough, she is taken. I'm imagining the scene as she is being abducted and Abram says nothing, does nothing to defend her. That was some serious, paralyzing fear that prevented him from helping the person he most loved in the world. And later, he still doesn't have the courage and faith in God to rescue her. God finally intervenes.
I also notice that this failure happened after Abram made it to the promised land and built an alter to worship, basically establishing his worship of and faith in the one true God in the new land.
Abram was all in.
And then he goes to Egypt and fails the faith test. This seems to happen a lot in scripture. A believer will trust God, commit to God in a big way and then fail a big faith test (think Jacob, King Saul, Peter.)
God will test our faith. And the more times we are tested, the more we grow in our faith...
"Consider all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:3-4
Interestingly, when we fail faith tests, we experience God's grace and forgiveness covering our heavy guilt feelings. When we pass faith tests, we grow more in our love and trust in God because we see Him taking care of us.
Even the most Godly people have moments of failure. We are all broken people who make mistakes, but our God uses all those failures to grow us in our faith, for our good and ultimately, for His glory. Abram was a fairly new believer when this happened, but after many years of walking with God, we see later how Abram passed the ultimate faith test by his willingness to sacrifice Isaac.
Living it today: Thank the Lord for any trial today, knowing that testing produces endurance. Purpose to pass the test:)
Living it yesterday: Believing I'm too busy to take on any new responsibilities, I've resisted committing to any new teaching responsibilities. But knowing my spiritual gifts are teaching and encouraging, I've committed to leading a much needed women's Bible study in the fall with Mrs. Meredith.
No comments:
Post a Comment