Tuesday, September 20th, 2022

Have you ever had a day when you felt like your faith wasn’t what drove your decision making? Sure, we all have. Even Abraham, the father of faith, patriarch of patriarchs, had days like this. Early in his walk with God, a famine hit and he decided God’s provision could not extend into such a drastic situation, so he left the promised land to venture to Egypt, a bountiful land of food in that day and a decision symbolic of turning from God to seek provision from the world. But God was faithful even when Abraham was faithless (and sinful) in Egypt. Upon leaving Egypt, wildly richer than he came in, Abram travelled directly to an altar he had built when he first entered the promised land, where he first praised the Lord and where he wanted to praise the Lord again. Do you see what happened? Despite his faithlessness, Abraham realized God was faithful, and if God could provide in a land not his own, how much more can He provide when Abraham is doing what God called him to do! Thus, Abraham repented! He came back to the place he first called upon the name of the Lord. So what can we learn? We can learn that God is faithful even when we are faithless and that the way we respond to God’s faithfulness is through repenting, bringing ourselves back to God. When we do, just as Abraham, we will be welcomed back with open arms. Today, if you have been making decisions led by other factors than faith, repent back to the Lord and see that He is good!

"Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord." -- Genesis 12:10-13:4 NIV