Untested Gifts

Be careful of the gift that seems so timely and needed.  Hagar probably was given to Sarai during her sojourn in Egypt and that gift became a terrible snare for Sarai and Abram.  Hagar eventually was the out for each of them as they frantically searched for a way to make God's promise of a child come true.  Rather than trusting solidly in the Lord Himself, they took the gift of Pharaoh as the solution to the difficulty they faced.  Later Abram proved his growing awareness that not every gift should be accepted willy-nilly by rejecting the offer of wealth from the king of Sodom.  But in Egypt, with his mind clouded by the affluence surrounding him, Abram saw nothing wrong with gathering everything offered him there including the lovely maiden Hagar.  It can seem like such a minor issue, taking this, accepting that and yet there may never have been a more haunting image for Abram all his days than the moment he turned his back on Sarai (albeit at her demand) and fathered the son Ishmael with Hagar.  We must be suspicious of what we mark as a blessing and what we decide is a curse.  The wounds of God are sweeter and more lovely than the poisoned presents of Satan and it takes discernment to know what you have in your hand at any given moment. A job offer, an open door, an opportunity for change may not come from who you think.  Be careful about the gifts you accept and the difficulties you reject.     Do not be afraid, Abram.  I am your shield, your very great reward.  Genesis 15: 1 NIV

The Egyptian Temptation

When Abraham brought his little family down to Egypt along with all his slaves and employees, he did far more than put them all at risk, he cut at the tight cord of faith each of them had.  The last word the Lord gave Abraham before the famine was that the land where he was living was his land and the land of his progeny.  Nothing in the promise included a disclaimer about moving away if things got rough.  The test of faith is aimed at our spot of confidence, not our weak point.  The clear word of God became murky for Abraham when the shortage of food struck him personally.  And yet courage and trust were the defining character traits of Abraham up to this moment.  The confidence Abraham had in his strategic response to the famine made him a prime target for Satan and as soon as he crossed the line between faith in God and self-assurance, he found out just how wickedly cunning Satan can be.  The son Isaac was to be Abraham's, not Pharaoh's and if it weren't for the rough intervention of God, Abraham might have lost his wife to the King of Egypt along with the lineage leading to Christ.  Doubt is contagious and Isaac later made the same terrible error a hundred years later.   Beware of your own insight into the problem you face.  It could shatter many years of faith not just for you but also those who look to you for direction.  Go to the Holy Spirit in every instance and you will find yourself secure within the hand of God.     Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. Genesis 12:10-11 NIV