WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Rejoice that the Bible tells us that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. Fear takes over After a good start Abram seems to blow it. Why did he go to Egypt when God hadn’t told him to? Why did he lie and seek to deceive Pharaoh? Fear seems to take over from faith: fear of starvation; fear for his life. He seems quite quickly to lose sight of God’s command and promise. He is in difficulty and takes things into his own hands. He makes his own decision about the best way to avoid starvation. He uses his own wisdom to get out of a tricky situation, resorting to deception. God doesn’t give up How often we do the same! We set out on the path of obedience but then it gets hard or does not seem to make any sense from a human perspective, and so we change course without consulting God. We can end up manipulating things to get our own way. God’s grace and mercy is such that he is able to fulfil his plans and purposes despite our weakness and rebellion. When we make poor choices and mess up God does not give up on us. It should be a real encouragement to know that despite Abram going his own way at this point, he is still described as a hero of the faith, an example to follow (Hebrews 11:8–12). Respond: Do you need to repent of taking your life back into your own hands, having given it over to God? http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-03-20