The Detour from Faith

It does indeed seem strange that the call of God was still ringing in the ears of Abram when he arrived in Egypt.  When the Lord first spoke to this son of Terah, He said, "Go...to the land that I will show you."  (Genesis 12:1)  With hindsight which has stretched over the generations we know Abram was to find his home in the land of Canaan.  And Abram did arrive in that place (Genesis 12:5), but he did not stay.  Dreams of living in Canaan had been in his mind a long time since Abram's father had also set out to go, but did not make it. (Genesis 11:31)    

The Word records the journey and hardly had he gotten his tent stakes in the ground of Canaan before we find him in Egypt. (Genesis 12:10)  While it is true the Lord did not say in the beginning where He was going to take Abram, it has always seemed that Egypt was not really the place.  Canaan was to be his home so it seems that the man who would be known for his faith in God took matters in his own hands with his detour into Egypt.  It was an easy decision to make.  There was a famine in Canaan, he had family and flocks to feed, and the grass was greener across the Nile.   The failure in faith seen in Abram is often a personal failure which remains unseen.  

There have been times when we have lived as one who wanted to be faithful and trusting in God, but who also lived with a Plan B when God's plan did not seem to be working.  When God did not appear to be providing Abram's needs, he took things in his own hands and went to Egypt.  Too many times we have walked the same road.  We make many decisions justifying them as expedient and practical just in case God is not able to provide what we need, or in some cases what we want.