Blue Tint Glasses

Genesis 12:1 – The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”

The Lord says this to Abram and follows it up by saying he will bless Abram and all peoples on earth will be blessed through him.  How old was Abram when God told him this?  75.  And Abram left as the Lord told him.

Not only did Abram listen to God, the land that God brought him to (Canaan) experienced a famine upon his arrival.  Brutal.  Abram had left his family, his country and his people and now there was a famine in his new land.  This was obvioulsly a test of Abram’s faith of which he passed.  He didn’t question God’s leading when faced with difficulty.

However, the famine was so severe that Abram had to go down to Egypt to live for awhile and it is here where we see Abram try to take over.  He thinks that he must deceive the Egyptians by having his wife tell them that she’s his sister.  Abram feared that if they knew that she was his wife then they’d kill him to get her.

In the end, it causes more trouble.  Abram has pretty much prostituted his wife as Pharaoh now wants to marry her.  But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh for being with Sarai, Abram’s wife.  Pharaoh summoned Abram to ask, “why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?”  Abram and Sarai were then sent away.

How does this relate to your life?  I haven’t ever moved to another country.  During my freshman year of college at Kansas I could feel God leading me back home to go to college at UNI.  It wasn’t a comfortable decision to make, but in the end I believe God was leading me to where I could be of greater service and usefulness for Him, similar to Abram.

So, when I told my parents of my intentions they were surprised and very supportive.  The only problem was a few months after I had returned home I had forgotten about why I was there.  I focused on what I wanted and felt like doing instead of what God had called me to do.  I had quickly degenerated into a bad influence on my younger brothers and sister.  I became more focused on when I could have my next drink than when I could read my Bible or cheer at a sporting event.  Problems multiplied.  But once I’d hit the bottom and realized I needed to change, I never second-guessed God as to why he led me back home.  I looked for new opportunities and better situations to follow Him.

God has tremendous plans for all of us.  He wants us to be great, but it is in His power and doing by which we can be great.  When I try to take hold of the steering wheel in my life things go up in flames.  It is God that will bless me, not Me who will bless me.

God may be trying to lead you to a place of greater service and usefulness for Him too.  Don’t let the comfort and security of your present position make you miss God’s plan for you.  And be ready, because when you are determined to follow God you’ll encounter great obstacles.  Just use the intelligence God gave you and things will be a-okay.