Abraham: Falling in Faith

I have been in ministry long enough and experienced life to understand that men fall, heroes let you down, and even the faithful find themselves failing. There are dangers when we place people on a pedestal:

We place burdens and expectations on them that cannot be met

We find ourselves disillusioned, and disheartened tempted to give up when the get knocked down

ABRAHAM to many is a hero of the faith, a man rightly called the father of the faithful, but as we sift through his life and walk his journey of faith we will see him progress, learn, and fail.

FAITH IS A MUSCLE...The greater it’s use, the stronger it is: and like any muscle workout… it can be uncomfortable, painful, and difficult.

Once Lisa and I needed food and God supplied

We were having our first child needing baby stuff God supplied

One year we needed Christmas gifts for our kids God supplied

With baby three on the way we needed a bigger car… TIME OUT!

Lisa challenged me, and God supplied

Two years ago I had to forgive a massive betrayal and hurt… God supplied

For each time I turned to God and put my faith in His plan, His power, His faithfulness I could list dozens more where I tried to do it on my own. In my own arrogance I thought I did not need Him.

God will exercise (test) our faith, NOT in order that He will know (God is omniscient… all knowing), but rather so that we are aware! We often in these exercises discover that our faith is

willing to be COMPROMISED

CONDITIONAL based on circumstances

…and “IF” we find our faith based on conditions, tempted to compromise it often stems from our COMMUNICATION practices… Read with me Genesis 12:1-20

Genesis 12:1–20 NASB95

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev. Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. It came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. “Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.” It came about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels. But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. Then 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,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go.” Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.

Compromised Faith

God command… “leave your family and father’s house”...

Abram takes his father Terah with him as well as his nephew Lot!

We will see God’s reason quickly and in chapters to come

God was going to show him the land… HINT: It was NOT Haran

Consider what Stephen in his testimony speaks to on this in Acts 7:2-4

Acts 7:2–4 NASB95

And he said, “Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ “Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living.

How often we seek comfort, familiar over faithful obedience

Haran was one of two key places of worship for the Moon god “Sin”… the other was Ur!!!

Leaving the gods of this world is difficult and often we find ourselves compromising in our faith

This is why Joshua warned the people… Joshua 24:2 God seeks single devotion

Joshua 24:2 NASB95

Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.

Family can draw us back to those things of this world instead of God Almighty

When we fail to trust God completely we find ourselves willing to compromise the truth…

They head to Egypt and Abram ask his wife to say he is her brother… wow way to save your own neck instead of trusting God… this by the way will not be the first time and technically is a half truth… Genesis 20:12-13

Genesis 20:12–13 NASB95

“Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife; and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

A half truth is a full LIE!!! (chicken poop)

Don’t sit there shaking your head at Abram… 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 warns us about this

1 Corinthians 10:12–13 NASB95

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

Each one of us is capable of compromising in our faith… we tend to compromise because our faith tends to be conditional...

Conditional Faith

Is when we trust God on our terms… “IF” statements: I will trust Him “IF”________

We find ourselves basing our faith off of our feelings even though we will always have our feelings and emotions in play

Faith is based on the UNCHANGING, SOVEREIGN, POWERFUL… WORD OF GOD!!!

He says it we need to obey

Stop BARGAINING with God!

So often we tell God our plans and then ask Him to bless them!

This is usually if not always based on what is comfortable / easier for us!

Abram does this…

Famine comes… a lacking in ones life Verse 10

We turn to Egypt… the place of ease and comfort consider Isaiah 31:1 warning and challenge

Isaiah 31:1 NASB95

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help And rely on horses, And trust in chariots because they are many And in horsemen because they are very strong, But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord!

Where is your default to turn in times of need?

Credit cards

Government

Worldly Resources???

Abram’s default is NOT God… YET!

I find our default being towards God over the world often reflects our...

Communication Practices

What and who we listen to will impact how we live and approach life!

In Ur and Haran… Abram listened to family

In Shechem Abram builds an alter… listening to and worshiping God

He was a shining example in the midst of pagan gods and worship in Canaan!

In Bethel once again we see Abram communicating with God in worship

He builds an alter “CALLING” on God

He pitches his tent (temporary) builds an alter (permanent) Verse 8

Negev… we don’t see an alter, we hear no calling out, we see no worship

Had things become comfortable, failing to see a need?

God allows difficulty (famine) to come… testing/exercising that faith muscle

Abram turns towards his default… the world

In Egypt… he seeks his own scheming but NOT God

What or who are you listening to… how does it compare in comparison to your worship, your calling on the Lord?

Falling in Faith

Heroes are human… Abram undeniably one of the world’s most revered men. Scripture calls him a man of FAITH, yet here we see him stand and fall. God is exercising his faith muscle. How is He developing your faith?

When we fall in our faith it impacts others and outcomes:

Terah held him up, Lot will present a difficulty ahead

His lie jeopardized his wife and his testimony (God steps in)

Fleeing famine produced troubles yet to be seen (verse 16) worlds “blessings”

Proverbs 3:5-6 states:

Proverbs 3:5–6 NASB95

Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

The more we do this the closer it becomes our default… we will see this true of Abram as well.

Amazing Grace—366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions 17. Trust and Obey

In 1886 Daniel B. Towner, director of the music department at Moody Bible Institute, was leading the music for evangelist D. L. Moody’s series of meetings in Brockton, Massachusetts. A young man rose to give a testimony, saying, “I am not quite sure—but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.” Mr. Towner jotted down this statement and sent it to the Rev. J. H. Sammis

Together they wrote “Trust and Obey” the first stanza goes like this...

Abram didn’t fully understand or comprehend this God he was now following but each step he was learning to trust Him more… how about you?