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A faithful presence of love in the absences of our city.

Genesis 12:10-20

genesis 12_10-20

I can picture myself  in a scenario similar to Abram’s, put on the spot, feeling the heat, anxious about what harm may be headed my way…”Quick! Figure something out!” Abram’s anxiety led him to lie, and he gets caught in the mess of his dishonesty.

All our sin is born out of wrong beliefs about God. In this scenario, it seems like God might have called Abram to a road of further suffering, and that is not so appealing. I can relate, I do not like suffering... it’s easy for me to put my own precautions into place instead of trusting that God is enough, no matter the suffering that may come. But, when Abram decides to lie about his wife, we get a glimpse of his fear that God has actually hung him out to dry.

In reality, God is the protector of those who trust in him, he does not desert you, even though in this world you will have trouble (John 16:33.)

All of our experiences of love and relationship here on earth have failed us on some level….we are used to relationships with other broken, self-serving sinners, it’s hard to fathom that through every blessing and trial... God is for our flourishing, with an unchanging, steadfast, pure love.

Rev. Breidenbach points out, that this is an unfamiliar kind of love. In earthly relationships, we learn not one of us can be fully trusted, except the Lord Jesus Christ. We are all longing to be loved. We long for something steadfast enough to put our trust in... but we are broken, and our relationships pay the price. God’s love is not the same, it isn’t fickle...it’s resolute, more than we could ever hope or dream of.

Trusting God with our whole lives allows us to redirect away from fearful self-protection, and toward bold, self-sacrificial love, the same love with which he first loved us (1 John 4:19). It’s only in fixing our eyes on God that we can remember our hope that he has overcome the world, and offered us peace (John 16:33). For Abram, the Egyptians distracted him from the truth about God, and he began to believe the lie that he had to protect himself. Fear of man took over and he lost sight of God’s perfect provision. What is it that steals your focus away from God and leads you to take matters into your own hands? I’ll tell you what...for me, it’s usually when I experience an injustice, when I feel the brokenness of a relationship because I’ve been sinned against... Nothing like feeling hurt to lead me to forget God and believe I have to fend for myself...

I pray that God would reveal to us the fear and the distractions that breed our mistrust of Him. May his love become more beautiful and more believable as we fix our eyes on him.

~ Emily Leslie