We learn by observing people. I can name numerous people off the top of my head that have left lasting impressions on me either by interaction or through reading about them. This is one of the great values of the Old Testament. Paul said, “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction” (Romans 15:4). Indeed, we have a “great cloud of witnesses” that lived long ago but left valuable life lessons about living by faith. Not one of them was perfect; they all had flaws and blind spots, yet they are in the canon of Scripture as exemplars of faith.
Genesis 12 introduces us to Abram and Sarai. From this point on, the record of Scripture is about their family through which all nations will be blessed (Genesis 12:3). God had promised Abram protection and posterity, but Abram was still learning what trusting God’s promises looked like in the everyday.
When Abram ventured to Egypt, he was sure that his beautiful wife would be noticed. He assumed that he would be killed so Sarai could be taken for Pharoah’s harem. Abram was scared for his life and God’s promise was obscured. So, he lied to Pharoah and engineered a narrative to prioritize his own safety to the jeopardy of Sarai, placing her in a precarious situation in Pharoah’s house.
After God intervened to rescue Sarai, we find her having an Egyptian servant who – she thought – would be useful in helping God keep his promise of a progeny since she was now old and beyond childbearing (Genesis 16). So, she and Abram arranged for her servant, Hagar, to be the mother of Abram’s son. When Hagar became pregnant, however, she demonstrated such contempt for her that Sarai could not abide so, she required that Hagar be sent away.
From those who line heaven’s hall of faith, albeit as imperfect humans (Hebrews 11), we learn what we tend to do when we do not take God at his word:1) We deceive because the truth becomes less important, 2) we manipulate circumstances to fit our priorities, 3) we marginalize moral boundaries and put others in jeopardy, 4) we compare ourselves, leading to jealousy and entitlement, 5) we create division and hostility.
God’s precious and very great promises, however, form in us the nature and character of Jesus (“partaker of the divine nature”) and free us from the corruption that is the product of sinful desire (2 Peter 1:4). This calls for our gratitude – not just a spoken “thank you” – but a life of taking God at his word that manifests trust instead of manipulation, rest instead of anxiety, stewardship instead of control, confidence instead of comparisons, and harmony instead of division. Taking God at his word produces a life marked by gratitude, which is the fountainhead of happiness and harmony.
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