Obedience and Famine

Then Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, “I am going to give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there to commemorate Jehovah’s visit….There was at that time a terrible famine in the land: and so Abram went down to Egypt to live.

This morning as I sat down for a few minutes of quiet before Halle woke up, I found myself turning once again to the story of Abraham. I was looking for some encouragement for my faith to persevere and asking the Lord to give me the faith that I need for this moment.

As I read this passage, it struck me that God had just told Abram that this was the land He was going to give him, then the next thing you know, Abram is leaving in search for food. The commentary in my Bible suggests that there was a famine in this land to which God had just called Abram because God desired to test Abram’s faith. It goes on to say that Abram used the intelligence God gave him to move to Egypt for food and wait for a new opportunity. Though this is one way to look at the situation, I can’t help but wonder if Abram demonstrated a lack of faith by going to Egypt. (He did fall into a pattern of sin as soon as he entered the borders of Egypt.) Sure according to his circumstances it looked as if he would have to go to Egypt if he wanted to eat and feed his flocks. However, God does desire for his name to be glorified. Could it be that God intended to provide for Abram and his family even in the midst of a famine?

Our family is in the throes of trying to sell our house. We have had it for sale for two weeks. My idea was for it to sell last weekend so maybe I could go with Zack to Atlanta this past weekend to look at houses. (He went down for a youth campout with our new church.) Wouldn’t that be a great way for God’s name to be glorified—our house selling right away! Well, it did not sell and I stayed home with the children this weekend. Now I can be thankful that God did not sell it in time for me to go with Zack because Halle was very sick with a virus over the weekend. She ran a fever of 103° most of the weekend and we spent Saturday afternoon in the doctor’s office. She has never felt that bad and I am truly thankful that I was here and not in Atlanta. When I look at the calendar it seems impossible for us to sell our house and find a new one before Zack starts at our new church. We have had several friends ask us what we are going to do. Are we going to rent and apartment? Is Zack going to commute? Should we look into a bridge loan? None of these options seem like a good financial decision at this point. I feel like going to look for a new residence in Atlanta at this point would be a lot like Abram going to Egypt. I beg God to give me the faith I need to walk on this journey. I know that the purpose is for His name to be glorified and that He will do things by His power and in His timing despite the days left on the calendar. He is in the business of doing the impossible! His name will be glorified according to His will and not mine. For now I pray for the grace to wait and trust…