Walking By Faith or Walking By Sight - The Life of Abraham

Main idea:
There are two ways to look at life. We will either look at life through the eyes of our fleshly instincts, and we will be tricked and lead astray by the false visions we see. Or we hear the call of God. We learn to walk with him, lean on his promises and look ahead to the world that HE is building. As we learn to walk with him, we also learn to look at all things differently through the eyes of our life of faith.

Outline:
1. Going back to move forward
2. Two ways to see the world
◦ Abram seeks peace
◦ Abram seeks to bless
◦ Lot is enticed by the false vision of sin and pleasure
3. The blessing of faith

Application:
• Return quickly to the Lord when you've messed up. His arms are always open.
• Allow your heart to rest in God in the midst of conflict. Wisdom and resolution comes when you don't cling to your selfish priorities.
• Don't be deceived by appearances. Expect the world to be appealing. Discipline your heart to cut through the mirage.
• Learn to wait upon the Lord before acting. Learn to push against your discomfort and tell your soul - God will come through. It is through our seasons of testing that we gain a deeper sense of his presence.
------

Genesis 13

Appearances can be deceiving.

In 2018, New York Magazine published an article about one of the most interesting criminals of our time.

Between 2013 and 2017, Russian born Anna Sorokin pretended to be a rich german heiress who came to New York to start a business in art and fashion.

She managed to convince many powerful people in New York that she was very wealthy and knowledgeable in business and art, leading to the fact that she was able to defraud hotels and other institutions for $275,000. In addition to this, she got some of the biggest banks in New York to approve her for a $40 million loan to start the business.

She almost got the loan before she was exposed and arrested.

To many of the top minds in money and fashion, she seemed to be a truly rich and powerful young woman, when in reality she had NOTHING.

Appearances can be deceiving.

So often we can be so sure of a certain path, so captivated by some picture of success or joy or other worldly promise, only to have it all come crashing down in our face.

Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 repeat the same exact statement:

"There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death."

We continue our journey through the life of Abraham.

We have seen Abram make some serious mistakes. He follows God but then at the first sign of trouble he caves to temptation and lies.

He sells his own wife out to save his skin, incurs the wrath of Pharaoh. He leaves Egypt with a bunch of gifts for his deception. But he leaves disgraces and embarrassed for his lies.

In this story we see how Abram uses this failure as an occasion to turn his ways. Rather than continuing on a path of foolishness a returns back to the Lord.

He is learning to see with new eyes. There are two ways to look at life. We will either look at life through the eyes of our fleshly instincts, and we will be tricked and lead astray by the false visions we see. Or we hear the call of God. We learn to walk with him, lean on his promises and look ahead to the world that HE is building. As we learn to walk with him, we also learn to look at all things differently through the eyes of our life of faith.

1. Going back to move forward

Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev—he, his wife, and all he had, and Lot with him. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. 3 He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been, 4 to the site where he had built the altar. And Abram called on the name of the Lord there.

What is his response to failure and sin?

Come back. Retrace his steps. Worship the Lord.

This is the foundation for any solution after failure.

Often we may caught up with fixing all our mistakes, with agonizing over our poor choices.
In many ways guilt and self pity or self hatred are veiled forms of pride. We agonize over wasted time and mistakes in the past - why?? Cuz we think we should have and could have done better.

Its pride. Its still locked in an exalted view of self.

Abram's response to his failure is to come back, to retrace his steps to the place before it all went wrong.

does he have all his problems figured out? Is the famine over?
No. Doesn't really matter.

The definition of true repentance is not we have fixed all our flaws. It's that we have turned away from sin and return to a posture of humility and dependence upon the Lord.

Moving forward from any season of failure or sin is coming back to a place of worship to the Lord.

How do we worship when we have messed up??

Historically the church has pointed out there are two steps -
• confession of sin - acknowledge what you have done was evil in the sight of the Lord
• assurance of pardon - let the gospel put you back on your feet. Though you are crushed, true humility allows you to be rebuilt by God's grace and forgiveness.
Abram goes back to move forward. He returns to the place where he built an altar and he calls on the name of the Lord.

And this posture changes him right away.
2. Two ways to see the world
"Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold...5 Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. 6 But the land was unable to support them as long as they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they could not stay together, 7 and there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. (At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land.)
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are relatives. 9 Isn’t the whole land before you? Separate from me: if you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”

Despite his failures, God is working in the background. God is fulfilling his promises. God his building his inheritance just like he said he would.

Moses literally says he "heavy with wealth..."

So much wealth that it leads to quarrel and tension.

Sometimes even blessing leads to conflict.

What is striking here is the total opposite way that Abram responds to the conflict, in contrast to his response in Egypt.

Instead of manipulating the situation and seeking his own selfish ends he takes a much more humble and serving approach.

He is the head of the household. He is the elder. He gets to call the shots. He has the power and the rights.

What is more, he is the one who holds the blessing. God is giving him more and more wealth, and he needs to watch out to protect it well.

This whole situation poses a threat to his herds and livestock. Water and food is limited, especially since Moses reminds us that its not just Abram and Lot in this land - its the Canaanites and the Perizzites as well - and those native folks have the main rights in the land.

The situation poses a threat once again to his goods and his household.

Conflict is such a frustrating part of life. A constant reality. Often times we are focused on how much of a problem OTHER people are. But one of the principles we see here is that one of the biggest determiners of the result of the conflict is your own heart.

Instead of calling the shots in a tense situation, he takes a more humble and honestly risky approach.
• Abram seeks peace
First of all he wants peace. His priority is not personal benefit or defense. His priority is peace.

Its just a general trend that when we are on a path of self centered priorities, we make foolish choices and we end up in conflict with others.

Abram was in conflict with Pharaoh and put his relationship with his wife in serious trouble.

James 4:1
"What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you?"

As Abram comes into a place of submission and worship to God, his posture to others changes. His heart seeks peace and resolution, even in a situation that was putting his goods in jeopardy.

First of all, do you genuinely seek peace? Is that your deep desire?
Often its not. Often we are offended, we are hurt. We don't really want peace as much as we want justice, we want to show how out of line or incorrect the other person is. This mindset dictates our actions. It steers our responses.
• Abram seeks to bless
He lets Lot take first pick.
this is a risk.
What if Lot takes the best part?
Rather than seeking to selfily protect himself, he seeks to bless, to give.

Whenever you are in conflict, do you seek the good of the other?
Once again, most often in conflict, we are focused on our own good. We are the ones that are hurt. We are offended. We seek to resolve OUR problem. We are not focused on the good of the other person.

Does this mean that we always needs to be a pushover? To just yeild at all times? Wasn't he risking loosing the promised land? Aren't we supposed to stand up for our rights? Won't people walk all over us if we are giving in?

No. Being a pushover is still essentially selfish. You avoid confrontation because you don't like the discomfort.

When our heart is postured in submission and worship to God, we are not afraid to do hard things when we know its the right thing. We are not motivated by fear to protect our own selfish desires at all costs.

We are moved to bless others. Sometimes that means yielding. Sometimes that means confronting.

Kevin Deyoung
"You never risk forfeiting the blessing of God by doing the right thing."

This posture radically changes your approach to conflict.

How do we become these kinds of people?

Abram is first of all, learning to walk with God. He is learning that above all is his posture of worship, of awe, of submission, of trust - to God.

Abram takes the path of faith. He seeks peace. He seeks humility. He seeks to serve his nephew.
But how does Lot respond?
• Lot is enticed by the false vision of sin and pleasure
10 Lot looked out and saw that the entire plain of the Jordan as far as Zoar was well watered everywhere like the Lord’s garden and the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose the entire plain of the Jordan for himself. Then Lot journeyed eastward, and they separated from each other. 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot lived in the cities on the plain and set up his tent near Sodom. 13 (Now the men of Sodom were evil, sinning immensely against the Lord.)
As Abrams growing in faith and submission and trust in God we see lot moving in the opposite direction.

Wealth, freedom - options. What are you going to do with that?

He lifted up his eyes and saw…

It’s interesting how Moses describes the Jordan Valley. On the one hand it’s magical and beautiful and paradise-like. On the other hand there is something deeply dark and twisted about it.

There is a strong parallel here between how Lot looks at the Jordan valley and how Eve looked up at the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3.

Literally "lifted up his eyes", the garden of the Lord...

With the beauty Moses brings in a warning note - "this is before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah"..."the men were exceedingly wicked..."

Lot looks at his wealth and his options, and his heart swells with attraction, not to God and his promises, but by a world of wealth and pleasure that looks like the graden of Eden, it looks like God's beautiful things - but it is twisted and bent by sin and evil.

Lot thought the good life will be found beyond the promised land - in the cities of the valley - cities full of sin and wickedness.

"Yeah maybe there is some stuff that is not all that good, but who can deny the wealth and the opportunity here! I can make so much more. I can live so well here."

"There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death."

This is how sin works. It enticed our vision. It pulls in with promises. It shushes down the voices in our mind that say maybe this is not good.

What pulls you? What attracts you?

Often we emphasize how TEMPTING sin is - lust, porn, money and wealth
we think how GOOD it feels. We fail to cut through that with the truth - yes sin is appealing.

But its fake! its a lie! it tastes sweet for a second - but then it leads to death!

Lot was pulled in. He was captivated. And it lead to trouble and death.
3. The blessing of faith
14 After Lot had separated from him, the Lord said to Abram, “Look from the place where you are. Look north and south, east and west, 15 for I will give you and your offspring forever all the land that you see. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Get up and walk around the land, through its length and width, for I will give it to you.”
18 So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.

Abram is learning to lean on God. He is learning to seek peace and blessing. And it changes his life.

As he leans in on God's promises - God also deepens his relationship with him.

God always comes through. There are seasons of sowing in life and there are seasons of reaping.

Notice the contrast here. Lot "lifted up his eyes" himself. But the Lord comes and he invites Abram to "lift up his eyes" so see what HE has for him.

The result here is that God brings the blessings and promises closer to Abram. His words here are more concrete and tangible.
God is revealing deeper and more of his plan to Abram.

One commentator observes -
"...Abram was told to do it, but Lot simply did it; Abram waited for God to give it, but Lot simply took it for himself. Better that God gives it than that an individual takes it."

How often are we tempted to do the right thing in a risky situation - or do the safe and selfish thing?

Sometimes we do the right thing but we don't know what happens next. Sometimes it seems that we are in a more complicated situation.

Abram returns, he worships God - and now he has a complicated mess on his hands.
There are seasons of sowing and waiting. And there are seasons of reaping.

But KNOW THIS - God blesses and comes through.

We need to lean on that. We needs to learn to wait on him as we do that right thing, as we follow his commands.

It is THROUGH our seasons of challenging faithfulness that we gain a deeper sense of his presence and faithfulness.

This is what Abram is learning.

How do I know that God will come through?

How do I know that he will catch me when I jump, when I turn from my old life, when I turn away from promises of pleasure and safety - to follow him?

Because in Jesus God has already come through for us even when we werent looking for him.

God himself entered our world. He took on the ultimate discomfort. He came to seek and save the lost. He labored, he gave himself for our good and blessing.

On the mountaintop Jesus was at a cross roads. Satan offers him all the glories of the nations. He choses to walk out as a homeless servant.

In the garden Jesus was at a cross roads. Is there any other way?

Two ways. Two visions. Selfish pleasure and safety - or sacrifice, humilty and trust in the Father.

Jesus' decision lead him to what his disciples thought was a massive fail. He was dead.

Isaiah 53:11-12
After his anguish,
he will see light and be satisfied.
By his knowledge,
my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will carry their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him the many as a portion,
and he will receive the mighty as spoil,
because he willingly submitted to death,
and was counted among the rebels;
yet he bore the sin of many
and interceded for the rebels.


Application:
• Return quickly to the Lord when you've messed up. His arms are always open.
• Allow your heart to rest in God in the midst of conflict. Wisdom and resolution comes when you don't cling to your selfish priorities.
• Don't be deceived by appearances. Expect the world to be appealing. Discipline your heart to cut through the mirage.
• Learn to wait upon the Lord before acting. Learn to push against your discomfort and tell your soul - God will come through. It is through our seasons of testing that we gain a deeper sense of his presence.