Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - When You Have to Make a Big Decision | Torah | Genesis 13

Episode Date: February 2, 2022

Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Have a big life decision and not sure what to do? Do you have decision anxiety? Is God in control of life decisions? If you're wrestling with these thoughts, this episode is for you. Jensen shares how Abram uses his faith to guide a huge life decision in Genesis 13. Listen to find out how to have peace in your decisions. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Passages: Genesis 13 Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to 10 Minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmeth. I'm Keith Simon. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. And I'm Patrick Miller. We are exploring the first books of the Bible. Right now, we're in Genesis. Over the years, I've signed up for my fair share of email newsletters. Some, better than others, but most of them don't bring me closer to God. Can you relate? Well, this year, I think it's time we change that. sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks email newsletter. Once a week, you'll get a blessedly short email with guides on spiritual disciplines, inspiring challenges to grow, interesting cultural backgrounds on today's passage, and even quick studies of Hebrew and Greek words. Each week is going to be a little different, and so we're hoping that you're going to love

the variety. So stop what you're doing, click the link in the show notes, and sign up. Now, let's hop into today's episode. Have you ever found yourself staring down a huge? huge life decision with no clue what to do. Who should I date? Who should I marry? Where should I move to? Should I move? What should I major in? What house do we put an offer on? Do I take the job? The promotion? When should we have kids? Daycare or stay at home? Public or private school? Should I even have kids yet? Facing choices that have the power to drastically change our lives can be paralyzing. We want to make the best

choice to get the most out of this life that we have. We don't want to pick the wrong thing and miss out on an opportunity or an alternate life plan that could have been even better than the one we chose. When I face these kinds of big decisions, I tend to go into research mode. I learn as much as I can about whatever I have to make a decision on. I make lists. I talk to my husband about all our choices. And once I've decided what I think I want, I make sure it happens. I take control. But truth in the back of my head, I'm always worried that I might have made the wrong choice for my life. Picking up with Abram in Genesis 13, we find him facing a big decision of his own. We learn that he and his nephew Lott are headed back to Bethel, where they had been before

they detoured down to Egypt. The problem is, on their return, both Abram and Lott, well, they have a lot more stuff. They both become very wealthy and things start to get a little tense. Versus six and seven tell us the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abrams' herders and lots. See, Abram is facing familial strife, lack of resources to sustain his livelihood, and a need to relocate for his household survival. How to handle the tension between his household and Lott's household, it's not a little decision. You'd find me taking notes on the surrounding areas, planning out where I wanted to go, and how much space I'd need to make the land work. There would be

lists, and I'd probably write out exactly what I was going to say to break the news to Lott that I was moving, that I was going to go to the best place for my family. I'd want to be sure I didn't make things worse, but also be sure that I got what I wanted. But that's not what Abram does. So Abram said to lot. Let's not have any quarreling between you and me or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right. If you go to the right, I'll go to the left. Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan towards Zohar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out towards

the east. See, Abram gives Lot the choice of the land. He tells him to take his pick, and Abram will take whatever is left. So Lot does what anyone would do. He seeks out the best land, land that's well watered, and the area he chose was also close to cities, so he could have had ample opportunity to easily trade and to grow his wealth. And Abram, well, he keeps his word. He heads in the opposite direction to the land of Canaan. Abram's generosity should shock us here. Abram, as the elder, could have easily taken control and told Lot where he was going. Yet instead, he generously offers up the land. He seems to have learned something from his time in Egypt. Instead of grasping for control like he did in Egypt, in faith, he trusts the Lord and his promises. See, a few chapters prior, God had promised

to Abram that he would make his offspring into a nation, and that he would give those people a promised land. Knowing this promise, Abram doesn't have to plan out the best options for himself, or worry that he's going to derail his life if he makes the wrong choice. He rests in the promises of God, and it allows him to live a faithful and generous life. And in response, we see God reaffirm those promises. The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had parted from him, look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west, all the land you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offering like the dust of the earth so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring would be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of this

land for I am giving it to you. Abram trusts God, even if it means that he might lose out on getting to move to the better land at the time. And the Lord, he blesses him, be the Lord. He blesses him beyond what he could have imagined with a promise to give his abundant offspring all the land that he could see. Now, it could be easy to read this passage and think that it means that if we just trust God, he's going to bless his abundantly in this life. But that isn't what we're promised, and it isn't even what we see happening here. Remember, Abram didn't get the immediate reward. The land he got wasn't the well-watered fertile land that Lot took, and the promise that God makes to him to bless him with the land of Canaan wouldn't be fulfilled for another 600 to 800 years when

Joshua brings the people of Israel into the promised land. There would be famines, enslavement, plagues, and wandering around in the wilderness all before this promise is fulfilled. What it does mean is that God is faithful to his promises of blessing to those who faithfully follow him. Just as Abram was called to trust God and open-handedly give God control of the sticky situation, so too are we called to faithfully trust that God will fulfill his ultimate promise to his people. We follow a God who has promised to redeem those who are faithful and to bring them into a kingdom where King Jesus is sovereign and love, justice, and mercy reign. It's because of this that we too can live generous lives, lives where we don't fight to get ahead, to make ourselves

number one to maximize our own gain, but we can lay down our lives, our decisions, and trust our God. Our hope, it's not in this world. It's in the kingdom of God. In Hebrews 11, Abram, later called Abraham, is named as one of the many faithful followers of Yahweh. He's praised for his faith alongside Noah, Moses, and many others. And this is what the passage says about them in their faith. Hebrews 11, 13 through 16. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left,

they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one, Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. I have this passage printed out in my home because I love it so much. It's a passage that reassures me and it challenges me. I want to have faith like that, a faith that knows that God will be faithful to his promises, even if I die before their ultimate fulfillment. I want to live a life knowing that God has prepared a city for me, and that city is my true home. No matter what this life holds for me, no matter what decisions stand before me, I know that my

ultimate home is in the kingdom of God and he has a place, a city, prepared for me. God's promises are bigger than our life decisions. It doesn't mean whatever we choose in this life will work out perfectly. It means that our priorities can shift. The decisions don't hold as much power in our lives because we have a greater promise of true fulfillment and joy. God's promises are bigger than our life decisions. What if we really believed that? What if we learned from the faith of Abram? I think we would be able to face the tough decisions in our life with peace, knowing that ultimately God will be faithful to his promise to bring us into his kingdom. I think we could live generous lives like Abram, not grasping to control everything for our own gain, but living a life faithfully

serving and humbly giving to those around us. Instead of getting caught up in the world we see around us, trying to make the best decisions to get the best out of life that we can, let's be a people focused on living a faithful life, trusting in God and his promises. God, would you help us live faithful lives today? Trusting you with the big decisions in our life. Would you help us to believe that you are faithful to your promises to redeem your faithful people and you will bring us into your holy city one day? Create in us a desire to live our lives generously like Abram, knowing that we don't have to try to control every aspect of our lives because we look forward to a life with you in your kingdom. May our lives reflect the faith we have in you, Lord. Amen.

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