Day 18

“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’. So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.” — GENESIS 12:1 & 4-5 

There are many pitfalls and diversions that can veer us away from the will of God, so not everyone who starts well finishes well, but it is important to know there is a way back.

Abraham didn’t really get started until he was 75 years old. Years before, while still living in Ur of the Chaldeans, God had said to him, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” Obedience to God always requires leaving something behind, but Abraham had compromised God’s calling. He had taken his father, Terah, and nephew, Lot, and they had proved to be heavy baggage, which had greatly impeded the course God had for him.

If we don’t drop what God tells us to we won’t go the distance. Saddled with family that had weighed him down, Abraham stopped in Haran, a beautiful, prosperous city where he settled for years, living in comfort and wealth. The devil will always find attractive alternatives to the will of God. Relationships, careers, social activities and special interests can be all-absorbing, channelling our energy away from God’s plan for us.  

But God’s calling is irrevocable. He waited for Abraham to wake up, to realize this was about God’s agenda and not his. After his father died, Abraham went back to the point of his disobedience. He remembered what God had said to him and finally set out for Canaan. Some of the best years of his life were wasted because he fell into one of the many pitfalls the devil uses to divert us from God’s purpose. 

Are we stuck in our own Haran? Is there a need to go back to the point of our disobedience where we sidetracked God’s agenda for something more appealing? Though the Gospel is free, there is a cost to the Christian life, but we need to keep in mind that God’s plan for our lives is intricately connected to the much greater picture of His plan for the world. To not go the distance with God we are missing out on the best He has to give us, but when we humbly acknowledge our weaknesses and put God in charge again, our weaknesses are replaced with His strength, and He gets us back on track.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, I pray that nothing sidetrack me from your plan for my life. Keep me from all the enticements of this secular world that may lure me away from You. It is You I want to serve, so I ask that You keep me on track, Lord. Thank You.

TO REFLECT UPON: What are my weaknesses that tempt me to fall away from God’s agenda for me? How can I overcome them?