Many of us are familiar with the story of Abraham (Abram) -- how God sent him to the land Canaan (Gen 12) and said "I will make you into a great nation and bless you" (v2). And later He changed his name from Abram to "Abraham" (Gen 17:5) meaning "Father of many nations". But what about his father Terah? Not much is written about him ...
(Genesis 11:27-32)
Terah had 3 sons(v27), Abram(later known as Abraham), Nahor, and his first born Haran. Haran died, presumably an early death, because he was survived by his father. Later, Terah decided to pack up half the family and head to Canaan (v31) taking his son Abram, daughter-in-law Sarai, and grandson Lot (born to Haran). But somewhere along the way, he stopped. He never made it to Canaan, but instead settled in a place he named Haran.
"Terah lived for 205 years and died while still in Haran." (Gen 11:32) NLT
That phrase stood out to me - "still in Haran", as if he died in a place he shouldn't have. As if, he should have already moved on, but instead was "still" there. When my wife calls me and I say "I'm still at work", that means I'm there, but I probably should have already left. I'm in a place where I was supposed to be for a time, but now I should be somewhere else. And I believe that was the case for Terah. I believe God wanted him to go to the promised land of Canaan, but he couldn't do it. Why? Because he never got over the loss of his son. He was never able to move past that hurt and pain of losing his son. And in so doing, never truly experienced the fullness of God's blessing.
I believe many of us are living lives just like Terah. God has given us a vision, something to head towards, but something in our past is preventing us from getting there. Perhaps you've experienced tragedy, or something unthinkable was done to you as a child, or adult, or maybe you simply have been distracted by other things -- and rather than living in the fullness of God's blessing, you have settled just short of it.
My prayer for you today is that you find freedom in Christ. That you bring your burdens, fears, hurts and distractions ... all to the cross, and leave them there. "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Math 11:30) And that today you would no longer be "Stuck in Haran".
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
What can man do to me?
As we at Bayside participate in the 21 days of prayer and fasting (awake21.org) , I had the pleasure of leading prayer for day 11 of the fast. The devotional reading for the day was Psalm 56 and 57.
As I read through the psalms, I had a new picture of David, that of a songwriter. I have always referred to David as somewhat schizophrenic in jest, because he starts so many psalms seeming to complain about God not being there, for abandoning him, etc... but he would always end it with something like "but I will praise Him anyway". I believe that is why Bible refers to him as a "man after God's own heart" because David was honest with God about his emotions - he didn't hold anything back
Growing up, I watched and listened to my mother write song after song over the years. She is a talented singer/songwriter in her spare time, and has been writing songs as a creative outlet for as long as I can remember. I can still hear her going line by line, editing, picking words and phrases that are just right, to communicate her thoughts and emotions. For someone who was not given that gift, I can honestly say I am both envious and extremely proud of my mom at the same time.
In these two psalms, David has written both to popular tunes of the day, an indication he wanted people to remember and sing. I picture a talented songwriter, going over the words line by line, so that you and I could remember what he wrote:
Psalm 56
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
My prayer for you today, is that regardless of what people may say of you, think of you, act toward you ... that you would praise God, trust God, and let Him take of the rest. Because if God is for us, who can be against us? Rom 8:31
As I read through the psalms, I had a new picture of David, that of a songwriter. I have always referred to David as somewhat schizophrenic in jest, because he starts so many psalms seeming to complain about God not being there, for abandoning him, etc... but he would always end it with something like "but I will praise Him anyway". I believe that is why Bible refers to him as a "man after God's own heart" because David was honest with God about his emotions - he didn't hold anything back
Growing up, I watched and listened to my mother write song after song over the years. She is a talented singer/songwriter in her spare time, and has been writing songs as a creative outlet for as long as I can remember. I can still hear her going line by line, editing, picking words and phrases that are just right, to communicate her thoughts and emotions. For someone who was not given that gift, I can honestly say I am both envious and extremely proud of my mom at the same time.
In these two psalms, David has written both to popular tunes of the day, an indication he wanted people to remember and sing. I picture a talented songwriter, going over the words line by line, so that you and I could remember what he wrote:
Psalm 56
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
My prayer for you today, is that regardless of what people may say of you, think of you, act toward you ... that you would praise God, trust God, and let Him take of the rest. Because if God is for us, who can be against us? Rom 8:31
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