The School Of Faith

God's test are for your own good and he offers retakes.

Genesis 12:7  Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 12:10-13 At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. 11 As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, "Look, you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife. Let's kill him; then we can have her!' 13 So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you."

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Abram obeyed God and left home because he believed that God would give him a better place to live even though he did not know where he was going. He didn't have any of the navigation tools that God chooses to use sometimes, no pillar of fire or a star to follow, so I don't know how he knew which direction to go when he left the family property but he did it. If Abram needed the level of proof that we require he would not have left the driveway.

When God said "this is the place" Abram stopped to build the first altar to the one true God in the Promised Land. The land had plenty of altars but all of them were used to worship the gods that man had made out of rebellion.

This altar was an open confession of his religion that must have been an irritation to the people around him. Building the altar and using it to worship God confirms that Abram left his fake gods and truly believed the promise.

But this is not a story where they lived happily ever after in the new land, there are new faith lessons coming up, the life of faith isn't easy street, Abram would have to prove that his faith in God is real despite it's imperfections.

Three ways our faith will be tested:

Circumstances

Genesis 12:10

We all like to help God fix our problems so it is easy to understand why Abram left town when the famine came, he was responsible for the welfare of a lot of people and animals, but I have to wonder if maybe he wasn't supposed to move. Instead of going to Egypt, without a word from God telling him to do so, maybe he was supposed to stay in Canaan and allow God to provide for him there. (Compare what God told Isaac about staying put during a different famine in Genesis 26:1-3)

If he would have stayed in Canaan it would have been a great story about God's love and care during difficult times but Abram changes his circumstances and goes down to Egypt. A move that would prove to be the wrong choice more than once in Israel's history. (Numbers 11, 14, Isaiah 30:1-2)

“God doesn't always change the circumstances, but He can change us to meet the circumstances. That's what it means to live by faith.”

- Warren W. Wiersbe

The protection and promises of God are more important than the circumstances that we face. Abram didn't trust God in Canaan and soon we will see that he didn't trust God in Egypt either.

People

Genesis 12:11-13:4

Abram begins to think about the new circumstances that he would encounter in Egypt and the people that would be there. Abram proves that when we are out of God's will we tend to become self centered, our faith and trust in God gives way to scheming. He began to think about his own safety and thought nothing of the dangerous situation that his wife could be in.

This lack of faith looks like a minor issue of little importance but it jeopardized the promise made to Abram as well as the promise made to Eve back in the garden. (Genesis 3:15) How could the promised Messiah come from Sarai if she stayed in Pharaoh's harem?

Now it is Pharaoh’s turn to tell Abram to go. God said go with a promise of blessing but Pharaoh's demand to go away from Egypt was one of shame and disgrace. What a pitiful sight it is when we see the people of the world behaving better than God's children.

Things

Genesis 13:5-18

The carnal man would be pleased with the results of Abram's choice to go to Egypt, surviving the famine was a good thing but the bonus of getting more stuff makes it even better. (Genesis 13:1-5, Proverbs 10:2)

Problem is what looks like a blessing is about to make more trouble than Abram could have ever imagined:

• Disputes arose because of the wealth that caused the two men to separate. (Genesis 13:6-7)
• A handmaid enters the household that would make trouble later when pregnancy issues plague the marriage. (Genesis 16:4)
• The worldliness of Egypt would have a detrimental effect on Lot as he chose his direction in life. (Genesis 13:12-12)

When circumstances and people challenged Abram he was a troublemaker but in the third test he gets it right. When things caused family problems he made the right decision and became a peacemaker.

In contrast, Lot chose to let things get in the way of making good decisions, the appeal of Sodom probably reminded Lot of the good life that he experienced back in Egypt. Lot must have missed that lifestyle and was anxious to go back.

Abram caused trouble in Egypt because he was out of place, Lot caused trouble in Canaan because he was out of place

-Warren Wiersbe Bible Commentary

After their separation, God renews his promise to give Abram the land, even after all of his mistakes in Egypt, God reaffirms his promise that all of the land would still belong to Abram and his descendants even after Abram gave away some of the land to Lot. (Genesis 13:14-18)

Abram pitches his tent and built another altar to the LORD, another place to worship, another place of testimony to the one true God. These altars are a picture of the church today as a place of worship for pilgrims on their way to a better country.

Abram's journey of faith reminds us that Satan wants to:

• Satan wants to use circumstances, people and things against you but God uses them to test and grow your faith.
• Satan wants to define you by your failures but God want to show his grace and mercy through those failures.
• Satan wants to keep you away from your altar so that he can keep you defeated but God wants to meet you there to let you know how much you are loved.

Abram's imperfect journey of faith and obedience should be encouraging to all of us as we struggle with the reality of God's promises. We may not pass God's test on the first try but God is faithful to allow us as many retakes as we need. We need to resist the temptation to change our circumstances because these circumstances are a tool that God uses to grow big faith.

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