Stuck in Haran

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".