When I re-read the stories of the people who are held up as the great people of the Bible I am struck both by their faithfulness and human failings. Abram (Abraham) is incredible in that he left his home and took his whole household with him to follow God on a promise of a new land and a new nation made great out of Abram. He is quick to follow, quick to give thanks and praise to God. But he, like many that God chooses, is also far from perfect. God saw potential in Abram (Abraham). We are not long into the story of this man, that God is going to make great, before he is telling his beautiful wife to lie and say she is his sister to save his life. What a nice thing to do to your wife sending her to Pharaoh so that Pharoah can have his way with her. God afflicts Pharoah and his household with great illness as a result and in the end Abram, Sarai and their household are set free. Not exactly a perfect happy ending.
The comfort I find in this story is that God sees potential in me as well, despite my failings, despite my ill conceived plans to put my own needs first. God made a great nation out of Abraham, sometimes inspite of him, sometimes because of his faithfulness. God takes us from where ever we are and transforms us just like he did Abraham and so many others who have been born or adopted into his great nation. Sometimes it is two steps forward and one step back, but God is always calling us forward.
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