Genesis 13: Wasted Time?
Abram is now back to the Negev… or the south country. “Back” to the place where his tent had been at the beginning… to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly.. and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
(cairnhill.wordpress.com)Abram lost time. Precious time because of his deception… and he ended up right back where he started from. That… right there… is a huge lesson.
Strife with Lot’s men and Abram’s men came to the camp. At this point, the men knew they had to separate their cattle and servants or there would never be peace. There was nothing directly between Abram and Lot…they weren’t at odds with each other.. .but this is where that added baggage comes in. The result of Abram’s original “partial” obedience. And this is only the beginning of trouble with Lot. In humility, Abram gives Lot the choice of which direction he wants to settle in.
I’m not so sure I would be that gracious. I’m sure I would have thought “Hey… I’m the one that was called.. so I get first choice.” But Lot chose first, and he chose the plains. And Abram had to watch him walk away.
(brentonbartsch.wordpress.com)When Lot left, God comes to Abram and says “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are.” I love this. Isn’t that so like God? Forget your previous journeys. Forget the mistakes you’ve made. Forget that I told you not to bring Lot in the first place. “Lift up your eyes and LOOK from WHERE you ARE….” God has the same message for you. Don’t dwell on your past. Don’t dwell on your mistakes… on your day of partial obedience. Lot is gone. Again… NOW lift up your eyes and look from where you ARE!
Think how frustrated Abram must have felt. Here he was… back where he started. The nephew he called “brother” left. He was materially blessed… but that’s it. He had gotten nowhere on this journey that God had called him to. His disobedience to the first command of God.. .and his deception because of his lack of trust… cost him dearly.
If you’re like me, you think… “How could he not have trusted?”
Let’s go a little easy on Abe over this lack of trust thing. This was a new God to him. He came out of UR, where they worshiped the moon. And here is the one true God… that actually SPEAKS to him. Abram may have heard stories of the one true God from Noah, as he descended from Noah’s line and was 58 when Noah died. Word of this God may have been passed down to him. But remember… Abram did not have scriptures to feed into his spirit... like we do. He had few, if any, examples to go back and learn from. But we have them. He did not have the Holy Spirit living inside... but we do. He did not have the written promises of God to copy down and stick on his refrigerator door... but we do.
He had a God… a new God to him… a strange God… that spoke audibly. But that was all. WE have SO MUCH MORE. We have the Spirit of that same God dwelling on the inside of us. And still… we find ourselves like Abram. Partial disobedience… if not FULL disobedience. Getting ourselves into a pickle because we haven’t learned to listen to the voice of God inside us… or to what is written to us in His word. So… we’re gonna cut Abraham a little slack here. No pointing fingers at him and saying “How could you?”
It’s interesting to note in this chapter that every time God spoke to Abram he built an altar to the Lord. He stopped and worshiped every time he heard from God. How often does God give us a word… an insight… and idea… and we let it go on by? We barely even take the time to write it down, much less take time to stop and praise him and worship Him and thank Him for taking time to reveal himself to us.
The next time God speaks to you… whether it is with revelation or a gentle “I love you” whisper… stop and take the time to give Him praise.
No comments:
Post a Comment