Promises

"Sometimes it's hard to keep believing
In what you can't see
That everything happens for a reason
Even the worst life brings
If you're reaching for an answer
And you don't know what to pray
Just open up the pages
Let His word be your strength
And hold on to the promises"

I find myself constantly forgetting all that God has done for me, especially in times when it is hard to trust Him. When things are tough, when life is busy and stressful, I find myself feeling like I am drowning. Overwhelmed with the world, I want to give up. 

Which is why I challenged myself to start looking at the promises that God has made known in His amazing Book. 

Abraham was the first that came to mind. Originally I planned on studying the chapter in Abraham's life where he almost had to sacrifice his son, Issac, but I began reading in Genesis 12 and realized that Abraham's whole life was a story of faith in itself. Which is where this blog begins.

The Story of Abraham- A Life of Faith

God appears to Abram one day and promised to make his descendants into a great nation. All that Abram had to do was agree and obey God.

"Leave everything you know behind and go somewhere I will show you." 

So Abram left.

What? 

God didn't even tell Abram where he was going!  Something I read in the New Testament came to mind when I read this.

Luke 9:3- When Jesus sent out His twelve disciples, He told them to "take nothing for the journey- no staff, no bag, no extra tunic, no food, no money."

Why this reoccurring theme? 

Jesus was forcing His disciples to trust Him. Just like He was forcing Abram to trust Him. God would have to come through for Abram because Abram had nothing else to fall back on. 

-----This place of trust isn't a comfortable place to be; in fact, it flies in the face of everything we've been taught about proper planning. We like finding refuge in what we already have than in what we hope God will provide------

God promised to bless Abram and make him great, as long as Abram trusted Him even if he couldn't see the next step. 

So Abram goes on his way, stopping every once in a while and "calling on the name of the Lord" (verse 8). At one stop, God appeared to Abram and told him that  the "land would be given to his kids, keep moving." I feel as though Abram probably felt like a big idiot dragging his wife around these random places and asking God, "Here? How 'bout here? This looks nice, here God?" 
Though each time he stopped, he would build an altar. Why? For God's people, altars symbolized communion with God and commemorated notable encounters with him. Altars remained in place for years as continual reminders of God's protection and promises. 
Abram was reminding himself that God was still faithful.

Remember that; we'll come back to it! 

But suddenly, Abram gets tired. He gets tired of waiting around and wandering from place to place hoping that God will finally show him where to stay. Frustration arises, anger builds, and I'm sure his faith in God's promise was lost.
So Abram set out toward a place called Negev. When he got there, a bad famine hit the land and he and Sarai set out for Egypt. Abram, acting out of fear, asked Sarai to lie to the Egyptians and tell them she was his sister so that he wouldn't die and so that he would be given a place of honor for having such a beautiful, desired "sister." 
Weird, right?
Well, because of his deception and greed, Abram grew very rich and wealthy. He was able to watch his wealth grow and multiply daily. 

Good old God steps in and inflicts a serious disease on Pharaoh and the Egyptians and they get mad at Abram for it and give him back his wife/sister and for lying. They get kicked out of Egypt, and head back to Negev and the famine they tried to escape.

I love this part.

"From Negev, Abram went from place to place until he came back to the place where he had first build his altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord. "

Abram went back to the place where he felt God the most. He went back to the place that would remind him of what God had promised. Abram lost faith in God's protection, even after all God had promised him. 
But he went back. He went back to the place of prayer and worship and renewed his love and loyalty to God. He was reminded that God was at the center of his life. 

So why is this relative to my life?

•  It reminded me that a life of faith isn't always perfect. And it reminded me that even the people we idolize in the Bible messed up and didn't trust God. I mean, they had God walking with them for heaven's sake! You'd think that would keep them on track and ever- faithful. 
• It reminded me that regular worship helps me remember what God desires.
• It reminded me that God is at the center of my life
• It reminded me that I can always go back to God, always.
• It reminded me that God hasn't forgotten about me and my "little" situations I have going on.

God promised Abram a blessed life. But He didn't promise that getting there would be easy. He just required one thing of Abram- faith. 

He just requires one thing of me- faith.