Crisis of faith…

 Crisis of faith…

At the beginning of this current year, I started again through the Bible, only the Old Testament this time…the pastor started throwing Genesis this year as well . He is just finishing Abraham’s life.

I couldn’t help but compare our lives with Abraham’s…we are all on a journey , his was spelled and lived out with promises, obedience, challenges, decisions, faithfulness….

God said, “ go” and he “went”…he “passed through “, “looked”, “walked through “ and “bought” a portion of the promised land…but did not “possess” the promised land…his offspring would get it…his journey started at age 75 and ended 100 years later faithfully expecting the “promise” he received from his God… 

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

Genesis 12:1-9 

But along the way there were various times that Abraham was “tested” and he fell short, but found God’s faithlessness to be all sufficient…

God gave him a son in his old age, Isaac, and gave him yet more  sons after his first wife died…Isaac was his “child of promise”, Sarah’s only child…

When i consider our journeys, there are times of distinct direction, times when we knew exactly the way to go…times of total stepping out into the unknown…there were trials which tested our faith exceedingly….there times of famine and times of plenty…there were emotional trials, physical trials….times of loss and times of gain…times of uncertainty and defining moments….times of waiting and times of going…times of praying through night and times of fasting…times of lack of prayer or not knowing how to pray…times of just waiting….

These all are times that we learn from the ancients…God was faithful then and He hadn’t changed…we change…we transform…

Thank YOU….

“God’s faithfulness to us is not dependent upon our level of faith in him.

-Teaching point one: A "crisis of faith" is a normal part of a mature Christian life.

-Teaching point two: God can use a faith crisis to develop a deeper relationship with us.

-Teaching point three: Trust and faith work together.”

https://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/a/crisis-of-faith.html

https://www.boundless.org/faith/surviving-a-crisis-of-faith/

https://www.gotquestions.org/crisis-of-faith.html

“A place of promise”

https://www.gotquestions.org/Shechem-in-the-Bible.html