Trusting On God's Promises Series

Theme: TRUSTING ON GOD’S PROMISES

Text: Genesis 13: 14-18

Introduction

A. Abraham was a man who walked by faith. This is seen in how he dealt the problem that arose between himself and Lot. We learned that he willingly placed the needs of Lot ahead of his own because of three reasons:

-He gave more importance on relationship than material gains

-He protected his integrity and testimony

-He left himself into the gracious care of the Living God. That’s real faith.

B. After the incident, Abram and Lot parted ways. Lot left and lived in the plain of Sodom. Abraham was left alone with his wife, his servants, and possessions. Well, it must have been difficult and painful for Abram to see his beloved nephew to separate from him. But this difficult time turned into a time of grace and blessings because it is the time that God chooses to renew His promises to Abraham.

That’s the wonder of constantly walking with God by faith. Difficult circumstances will turn into a time to experience God’s grace and blessings. It is so because, as we constantly walk by faith, we can trust that during our difficult times in life God shall uphold us.

C. Now, let us look at the event where God renewed His promises to Abraham. There are three things that this renewal of God’s promises involves:

I. CONFIRMATION OF GOD’S WORD (v.14-16).

We find here that God appeared to Abraham once again to confirm the promises He made when He called Abraham to leave Ur and set out for Canaan.

1. The timing of the confirmation. Verse 14 says, “God spoke to Abraham after Lot had separated from him.”

One probable reason of this timing was the feeling that Abraham had when his nephew had separated from him. It would be difficult and painful. Abraham took Lot out of his many relatives in Ur to be with him in his journey of faith. No doubt, he loved his nephew Lot very much. But now in a sudden they parted ways because of mere livelihood conflict. That really hurts. But what broke the heart of Abraham so much was the tragic decision of his nephew. Lot made his decision without consulting God; he looked with a heart driven with greed and lust. Abraham was hurt seeing his nephew went away from the place of God’s blessings. We feel the same way when we see christian brothers going their life away from God.

At this difficult, painful and emotional time, Abraham needed the comfort that comes from the throne of heaven. God came and confirmed His promises. Of this I just want to say: Our God is always available, always in perfect timing, when it comes to bringing comfort to His people.

Another probable reason of this timing was the necessity of separation. As we notice in our reading, when Lot was with Abraham, God did not appeared to confirm His promises. Now that Lot had been away from Abraham, God came and confirmed His words.

You know why, it is because, as displayed by Lot himself, he represented worldliness and lack of commitment to the things of God. So in the spiritual sense, Lot was a distraction to Abraham’s being right with God. And now that the distraction was removed, Abraham heard from God.

You know what, if we ever want to hear from God, if we ever expect the Lord to bless us to the level that He can bless us, then we are going to have to separate from anyone or anything that hinders our being right with God. God can and will only bless a separated life, a life set apart totally to Him.

2. The message of the confirmation. Actually, God had just reiterated His promises when He first appeared to Abraham. That gives us a simple truth about the faithfulness of God. He is faithful to keep His words; He never forgets His promises. His words can be trusted regardless of your circumstances.

But I noticed something here. There was amplification of the promises. At first, the promises were about the seed and the land. Now, it was amplified, enlarged and expounded. That means, in the walk of faith we are going to know, see, and experience more and more about what God has in stored for us. And as we walk in obedience to what God has already revealed to us, He is going to show us more and more as time goes by.

II. CONFORMITY TO GOD’S WORLDVIEW

After the promises had been confirmed, God called Abraham to rise up and walk through the whole land. Do you know why? God wants Abram to see things as God sees it, and interpret his circumstances as God interprets it.

1. So first, Abraham should know what he should become according to God’s perspective. He would become the possessor of the land of Canaan. This is the bottom line of the history of his life according to God’s perspective for him. This is the destiny that God had in mind about him. And God had revealed it to him through a promise. God said: “Lift up your eyes…. For all this land is yours.” Once again God told him that he was to be the possessor of the land. Abraham needed to know this for him to become what he could be.