Blue Tint Glasses

Genesis 14:14 – When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

Revenge must have been eliminated from Abram’s dictionary.  Word gets back to Uncle Abram that Lot was taken captive after the city of Sodom was overthrown by Kedorlaomer.  And instead of saying, “Punk got what he deserved,” Abram decided to engage.

He immediately tried to rescue his nephew.

Abram displayed two characteristics that I want for my life: (1) He had courage that came from God and (2) he was prepared.  We never know when we will be called upon to complete difficult tasks.  Kedorlaomer had just swiftly reconquered five cities with his army and was quite powerful.  Abram had 318 “trained men.”  Paltry.

He knew he had to engage to save Lot and he had courage in God to do so.  Also, he had taken time to train his men for potential conflict.  Are you prepared to take on an unforseen conflict in your life?  Abram had a thriving relationship with God and a group of people to back him up at the drop of a hat when this conflict arose.

The cherry on top is that after Abram’s people had defeated Kedorlaomer, Abram left it for all the people to see what God had accomplished.  Here’s how.  The king of Sodom wanted Abram to keep the goods he returned but Abram rejected the offering.  He refused to take anything from Sodom.  Even though the huge amount of goods would have significantly increased what he could have given to God, he didn’t want the ungodly king of Sodom to say, “I have made Abram rich.”  Instead, Abram wanted him to say, “God has made Abram rich.”

In this case, accepting the gifts would have focused everyone’s attention on Abram or the king of Sodom rather than on God, the give of the victory.  When people look at you and when people look at me, they need to see what God has accomplished in our lives.

Have confidence in God.  Be ready to engage.  Give the glory to God.