Meagan Mankin
In Genesis 12, Abram (later known as Abraham) is given one of the greatest promises of all time. The Lord told him:
Go from your country and you kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)
In obedience, Abram did exactly as the Lord commanded. He packed up his stuff and his family and left his country and his father’s house. Although childless, he trusted in God’s word to him. The journey wasn’t easy, but the Lord was faithful to Abram.
However, as time dragged on, Abram began to lose sight of the promise the Lord had given him. He started to question the Lord and the Lord graciously reassured him that Abram’s own son would be his heir and the bible says that Abram believed the Lord.
Years continue to pass and after 11 years of being in the land of Canaan, Abram is still childless. Sarai, Abram’s wife, also knew the promise. She, too, felt the weight of not having a child and was old in age. In desperation, she offered her own solution, for Abram to have a child with her handmaid, Hagar. And the story shifts with a simple sentence, “And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai” (Genesis 16:2).
Far too often we listen to voices that are not from the Lord. We have a tendency to listen to what the world tells us, what others tell us, what the enemy tells us and what our flesh tells us. We cling tightly to logic and reason. We let the words of others shape us and guide us in unhealthy ways. We let fear dominate us and we let our identity, worth and calling come under attack by voices that are not the Lord’s.
What if in all situations we chose to listen to the voice of the Lord, instead? Scripture is full of God’s promises to you. Spend time in His word and time in prayer with Him and the Lord will speak to you. Choose to listen to His voice above any other.
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. (Isaiah 48:17)
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. (Psalm 32:8)
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:21)