God spoke directly to Abraham in his pagan home. Of all the people on the planet at the time, God, in His amazing grace, chooses Abraham and tells him to leave his home and go to a place he will be shown. Abraham answered the call and took a massive step of faith to obey the voice of God!
Genesis 12:1–4 (NKJV) “Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.”
Not long after he left home, he was met with a severe crisis of faith; a famine hit the land! Immediately he chooses the humanly wise choice to head down to the breadbasket of the Middle East, Egypt. There was one big problem with that decision. It was one based upon fear and not upon the leading of God. God never told him to run to Egypt.
Genesis 12:10 (NKJV) “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.”
As he enters Egypt, another fear grips him. His wife Sarai is beautiful and would be easily noticed and then wanted. Abraham is so worried that she would attract too much attention that he asks her to lie for him and say she is his sister. That way, they would live. His fears have developed a life of their own, and he’s no longer following the leading of God.
When we take steps of faith, we will be met with crises of faith. It is in these moments that we must trust God and His promises. We may not always understand what He is doing, but we can trust that He is good and His plans for us are always for our good. Even when things don’t look so good, we must take the next step of faith and trust God. He will never lead us astray.
Psalm 34:19 (NKJV) “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.”
Know this brother and sister in Christ. No matter how strong you think you are, how mature you’ve become, or how spiritually strong you have been, you are still prone to make awful decisions when you choose to take things into your own hands. Even the greatest of servants of God like Abraham fail and fail miserably. How disappointing sin is!
When taking steps of faith and meeting severe crises of faith, remember that God desires that we learn to trust Him in new areas, levels, and ways, such as we have never known before. That’s our faith journey.
Trust Him, friend, because He is worthy!
