Genesis 13:1-4

Yesterday, when we left off with Abram, he and Sarai, the sheep, cattle, male and female donkey, menservants and maidservants, and camels, plus Lot, were all heading away from the humiliating lapse in Egypt. Abram had gotten himself, and worse, his poor wife, Sarai, into a lot of trouble when he lied to save his skin! So, you would think, after being such a poor excuse for a godly witness, that God would set him aside. I’m sure the damage to his marriage needed some repair! So, how does Abram find restoration? Do you suppose he felt like he had so badly blown it that there was no hope? I can’t imagine this was a happy caravan! We can learn from his example in this next chapter how to find our way back!
So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD. (verses 1-3)

Abram did what we all need to do on a daily basis: he repented! He made a 180 degree turn and headed back to Bethel, where he had first built an altar to worship God. God is not far away. When we feel like He has left us, He is not the one who moved! Jesus told the church at Ephesus in Rev. 2:5a, Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you are feeling disconnected, if your passion for God has waned, turn around, go back to where you started. Make a conscious decision to return.

Jon Courson, in his commentary, quotes Alexander Whyte who said, “The Christian life is basically a series of new beginnings.” Isn’t that what grace is all about? Each day, every minute we are given “second chances” over and over. I could not lift my head every morning if it weren’t for God’s grace in my life. I would be crushed under the weight of my guilt if He hadn’t remove it once and for all at the Cross!

Sometimes, when I’m feeling burdened by the demands of teaching, when I gaze at the mile high stack of essays to grade, or try to find something buried under the paperwork spewing all over my desk (there’s a woodgrain under there somewhere!), or feel myself pulled in fifteen directions trying to meet the needs of students, parents, administrators, and co-workers, I have to stop and go back to that altar I built to God more than twenty years ago. I remember the verses that God used to call me to teaching:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

God used these verses to show me that I needed to go where HE wanted me to go - that I needed to be the living sacrifice on that altar and work with children, which is SO NOT what I wanted to do!! God is pleased, however, when we throw up our hands in surrender and say, “Whatever God - whatever YOU want me to do, I’ll do it!” I knew He had gifted me with kids - I just wanted a different gift! :) Now, when I have those really frustrating days when students just can’t seem to “get it,” or when I hear news commentators daily claiming how awful teachers are - and how we are the cause of all the ills in the world (am I whining?) - I go back to where He called me - to these two verses - and I thank Him profusely for the blessing of this job that I love so very much.

If you are feeling that you couldn’t possibly be used by God after all of the mistakes you’ve made, join the club! Abram must surely have felt that way after the fiasco in Egypt. Our gracious God calls us to return to Him, to turn around and come back! Do it today!