"After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.' ...Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:1, 6 HCSB)
Change is a part of life. We may like the change, resist the change, ignore the change, but we cannot avoid it. Change happens. The only decision we have is how we will respond to it. That will determine whether the change takes us forward or backward.
This is what we are seeing in the life of Abraham and Sarah. God uprooted them from home, planted them in Canaan and gave them the promise of fruitfulness. All seemed well until famine came and from there they fled to Egypt--driven by fear rather than being directed by faith. Returning back to the Promised Land, they settle into the daily round and blessing starts to flow. But, the prosperity brings potential strife between Abraham and his nephew Lot over the shortage of pasture. The next thing you know, the kinsmen part company. Nothing ever stays the same. Today will bring changes for you and for me. Whether they move us forward in faith or our steps falter in fear depends on our choice in those inevitable changes.
For Abraham it seems he takes two steps forward and one step back. He trusts God--mostly. He fails God--occasionally. Overall he makes progress--gaining ground in his journey toward the Celestial City, but sometimes taking a detour and even a dead end. Then it's time to turn around and get back on the right road. Thankfully, he had GPS (God's Providential Steering) to put him back on course. That is so descriptive of our own experience!
In chapters fourteen through sixteen of Genesis, we see this pattern in Abraham's progress. He takes two steps forward and one step back.
He steps forward with a courageous response of faith in chapter fourteen. Abraham received the report that his nephew Lot was taken in battle. Lot had moved near Sodom for financial advantage, but didn't stop with being in proximity to the wicked city. He and his family took up occupancy. Lot is gradually being pulled into the world--assimilated. Though a backslider, he was a believer and his crisis was meant by God for correction--discipline by a loving Father to his wayward child. Abraham acts with courageous faith, raising his own militia and marching out to rescue his kin. There are many of God's people who are held captive by the enemy. We ought to respond as Abraham did. "Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won't be tempted." (Galatians 6:1 HCSB)
He steps forward in a covenant relationship of faith in chapter fifteen. Abraham refuses the corrupting offer of reward from Sodom's vile rulers. God is pleased! God assures him that He is the reward! Abraham receives the promise by faith and enters a covenant of grace. "Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:6 HCSB) Nothing is more important than to be in a right standing before God. The New Testament uses this verse to underscore that this is the only way--a personal relationship with God through faith.
But, he steps back in a consequential rejection of faith in chapter sixteen. Pressured by his wife, Abraham decides to help God out. God has promised a baby to this old couple--and still no infant son has arrived. According to the custom of that culture, a servant could become surrogate parent and the child become the heir. "You've got to put feet to your prayer!" Perhaps that was the thinking. While there can at times be an element of truth to that--in this case it was an absolute disaster! It seemed at first as though God had blessed this scheme. Hagar has Ishmael. Abraham has a son. Things degenerated from that point, and the world still suffers the sad consequences of this rash action. Later, when Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah, the half-brothers get into conflict--and their descendants have been fighting ever since: Ishmael's descendants, the Arabs and Isaac's line, the Jews! Choices have consequences and what may seem at the time to be a small thing can have enormous implications!
We would do well to follow the counsel of the old hymn:
"Have faith in God when your pray'rs are unanswered,
Your earnest plea He will never forget;
Wait on the Lord, trust His Word and be patient,
Have faith in God, He'll answer yet." (B.B. McKinney)
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