Genesis 13:14-18 – Faith enlarges our soul

So Abram and Lot parted way. And after the separation God spoke to him reaffirming the promise of the land to him and his descendants. God told him to “…lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.” So Abram heard the promise of God audibly even as he gazed at the land from where he was. God’s promise to Abram was not only unconditional, it was forever.

In verses 15-16, God made mention of Abram’s descendants three times. He promised that Abram will have descendants as numerous as the dust. Just think that Sarai was barren at this point. And wherever there’ll be dust, they would be reminded that that’s how numerous their descendants would be. So wherever they went, whatever land their feet stepped upon, he and his barren wife would be reminded that they would have descendants that would become a nation.  

Abram was challenged to arise and walk the length and breadth of the Promised Land.  And as Abram walked the land, the word of God’s promise must have cascaded through his soul. His faith was affirmed. And he was seeing the unseen in reality. When Abram completed his tour of the land we are told he came to Mamre, he pitched his tent and settled there. And as he always had done, he built an altar to the Lord. As we have said earlier, his life revolved around worship.  

Abram’s way of life was a great contrast to that of Lot’s. The latter chose according to his flesh. He saw and lusted and then went for them. Abram on the other hand looked with the lens of faith. He saw the unseen, heard the voice of God and found deep peace and great assurance. His faith in God helped him to clearly see the promise God had made to him. There is nothing that could pose as a threat to faith. No wonder he fearlessly allowed Lot to take the first choice of the land.  

Abram’s life challenges us to live ours through the lens of faith. Like him, we must learn to trust God as we make our journey with Christ. How Abram dealt with Pharaoh and how he dealt with Lot were markedly different. One was self-serving while the other was self-giving. The two ways of Abram remind us how we would often act in our walk with God. Like Abram, we could be acting in total trust at one point, yet vacillates into distrust mode at another. Our faith journey is a mixture of trust and distrust. Not to trust is utter foolishness but to trust is heavenly. How we would act is often dependant on our capacity to trust God. When we fail to trust God we will end up with a small and selfish heart. But when we trust God and His word, we find something within us arise like a mighty giant. We become magnanimous. We are not afraid to let go and let God!