“God is ever-present in a humble heart with the courage to obey His ways.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today –August 14, 2023
And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now, therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way…So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go into my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Genesis 12:18-19, 16:2
Abram started out very poorly in learning the ways of God. Out of fear, he put his wife Sarai at moral risk by deceptively claiming she was his sister, thus making her vulnerable to Pharoah’s marital advances. And then he went to the other extreme of unwisely caving into Sarai’s desperate insistence that he fathers a child with their servant Hagar. Instead of lovingly leading his wife to understand that they needed to wait on God’s blessing of a child…he weakly gave in to her demands, thus, circumventing God’s will. Abram was unprincipled, undisciplined, and unable to stand up to unhealthy pressures. He was a man of the world instead of a man of God. He lacked authentic humility and the moral courage to follow the Lord’s ways and, instead, gave in to pride and fear. God’s ways will be hard at times, but better to trust, obey and have His favor.
There are two types of people in the world: those who embrace a self-centered worldview and those who aspire to a God-centered worldview. People of the world or people of God. People of the world are self-centered and strive to be self-reliant. Yet when outside pressures threaten their peace and security, will compromise their principles for acceptance and approval. They give in to an emotionally foolish choice instead of a prayerful, wise decision that honors the Lord and that serves them and others much better over the long term. A person of God waits on God and seeks to follow His ways. God is ever-present in a humble heart with the courage to follow the Lord.
Fortunately, Abram learned valuable lessons from the Lord in how to be transformed from a man of the world to a man of God. He was broken from the pain of disobeying the Lord while experiencing the hurtful consequences of not protecting his wife from unhealthy outside influences or from not protecting her from herself who desired to go around God with a foolish shortcut. Abram grew meek and humble as he deferred to his nephew Lot to have the first choice in the land he wanted to settle (Genesis 13:8-9). And soon after, when Lot was in a life-threatening situation, Abram courageously showed up with a mere assembly of 300 men to rescue Lot and his family from the combined forces of four Kings (Genesis 14:14-15). Humility and courage win!
Are you growing as a person of God, or are you stuck and striving as a person of the world? Consider a reset to humble yourself before the Lord, ask forgiveness for your self-reliance, and lean into the Spirit for the courage to trust and obey God’s way. Have the humility to support another in his idea of what’s best and the courage to help him when he discovers unintentional consequences to his decision. Stand up for those you love, even when it requires you to take a reputational risk, and be willing to boldly and lovingly remind someone you care about, what God has promised, and how He can be trusted to wait on His timing. Humility and courage win!
“By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).
Prayer
Heavenly Father, humble my heart to courageously obey you through Christ’s love and in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Application
Who can I humbly support in her ideas and be there to help her during difficult days?
Related Reading
Genesis 22:1; Romans 4:1-16; Galatians 3:14; Hebrews 11:17
Worship Resource
Elevation Worship: O Come to the Altar
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