Genesis 13: 4-18

Perhaps more than any other generations before us and more than most of the world around us, we struggle with the question of what to do with our lives. Opportunity abounds. Doctor? teacher? Engineer? Artist? Economist? Management consultant? Banker? Aid worker? Church worker? We are quite obsessed with the question of what to do with ourselves. As a result there are endless books on discovering God's will, guidance, how to hear the Spirit's leading. Many are very helpful and full of good advice. There is however something extremely refreshing about this passage. It starts with Abram calling on the name of the Lord, as he stumbles on the alter he had built earlier in his journey. This reminds us that Abram was and is a worshipper. His life is a response to God. He is training his eyes to look upward in his daily life. He walks with God and for God. This pattern of life prepares Abram's heart for the big decisions.

In chapter 13 we hit one of those decision points for Abram. He has so much wealth that it is starting to create trouble in the group. Lot was a brother and Abram didn't want his camp to be disturbed by such quarreling amongst family. You would think that Abram would have been preparing for some serious negotiations with Lot and strategising about how he could get the best deal for himself. The land was, after all, promised to him and not Lot. You can imagine the tension Abram must have been feeling - 'what if I get this decision wrong'. 'What if I miss out on God's will and choose the wrong part of the land for myself'. What if...what if... Sound familiar?

Surprisingly the text shows no tension in Abram. Instead it appears Abram's confidence is not in his ability to make the right decisions but rather in the promise of God. Abram's faith is in God and not in his own ability to apply the right guidance formula to his situation. He is so confident in the promise of God that he allows Lot to chose which part of the land he wants. "You choose Lot, you go left and I'll go right, you go right and I'll go left...whichever way I go God's promise will prevail"

So perhaps we need to stop worrying about whether we've heard right or whether we've correctly followed the steps from the latest book. Lets worship and move forward.

Interestingly in this passage, God spoke to Abram after he had moved on and not before. The reassurance of the promise came when Lot had sailed off into the distance.

The chapter ends with Abram building an alter. It is the third time in the passage that Abram has taken time to focus in on God and to place him firmly at the centre of his life. A rhythm is emerging, a rhythm that we should work at adopting.

A final thought - when we talk of promises in the Church today, it often relates to those individual words that are about our personal lives. The promise Abram held onto was a promise for a nation, a people that would bless all people. I'm keen as I read the scriptures to really discover what it is that God has promised to the New Testament church. What are promises that we should really be hanging our lives on. What are things that are about more than just me. What can I really be confident of.