Tag: journey

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

A faith journey

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Karina Syrotiuk on Unsplash

I was today years old when I learned some things about Abram I had never thought about before (from Genesis 12).

  • When the Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country…and go to the land I will show you,” it wasn’t the first time he spoke those words. According to Acts 7:2-4, God gave him those instructions when he was in Mesopotamia. In Genesis 11:31, the family only made it to Haran. The Lord gives them another nudge, and they finally settle in Canaan (12:5). I wonder why they didn’t go the whole way the first time?
  • The Lord said, “Leave…your people” (12:1). Abram mostly did, but took his nephew Lot with him (12:4). Lot would trouble later when Abram had to give him part of the land (13:5-9), and later when Abram had to rescue him from captors (14:16). Maybe he should have left him home.
  • Then, when there’s a famine, Abram goes to Egypt to find food. While there, Sarai acquires an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar, whom she would hate when Abram fathers a child with her (16:1). Maybe they should have trusted God to provide for them in Canaan.

Even though childless, Abram believed God’s promise to make him the father of a great nation. He’s the poster child of faith: “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (15:6). But rather than a heroic faith, Abram had a growing faith. Abram made some questionable choices, but always circled back to square one, built an altar, and called on the name of the Lord (12:8; 13:18). His actions had consequences, but nothing can derail God’s plans. And along the way, Abram learned how to trust God.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

The journey of a lifetime

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Brett Patzke on Unsplash

A few more “through the bible” thoughts from Jonah 1.

It’s a life and death situation when the sailors cast lots and find out Jonah is responsible for the raging storm that threatens to capsize the ship (Jonah 1:4,7). Jonah says, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (Jonah 1:9).

Wait a minute. Doesn’t Jonah’s story begins with his deliberate disobedience to God’s command to go to call out Nineveh for its evil? He doesn’t sound like someone who fears God. I guess Jonah didn’t fear God until the storm hit. Either than, or fear of God doesn’t equate to obedience.

Since “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31), “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). Just like us, Jonah had a lot to learn about God and a lot to learn about obeying God. It’s a journey. It’s a difficult journey. It’s the journey of a lifetime.

We don’t have to learn to fear God in dire circumstances, although those situations are a great classroom. But we learn from others, too. God’s people learned a lot of lessons that “were written down for our instruction” (1 Corinthians 10:11). Hopefully, we’ll learn to not make the same mistakes. In reality, though, we will, and we too will learn to fear God and maybe even obey him.