Tuesday Devotion

Abraham: Let's get a new dependence!
By Mike Kirby

Abraham was rich. Abraham was comfortable. Abraham was settled. Abraham would probably have been happy to live out his days in his hometown of Ur with his friends and family.

Read Genesis 12:1. Whoa! What if God wanted you to leave it all behind and go to a foreign country? Oh, and He won't tell you where your going until after you have left. Could you do it? Now read Genesis 12:2-7.

When God made that promise about Abraham's descendants, Sarah couldn't have children. How was this going to happen? The only way Abraham was going to be successful in what God was calling him to do was to depend on God for everything. That is a complete and total trust that God will provide everything you need to fulfill His purpose for your life.

Abraham does have a son. We read about Isaac in the 21st chapter of Genesis. God has miraculously provided this child of promise to Abraham and Sarah when they are old. Now read Genesis 22:1-2.

How could God ask Abraham to do that? But if you continue to read the chapter, you find out that when God saw that Abraham trusted Him completely and wouldn't even withhold his promised son from Him, God provided a substitute for Isaac. He provided a ram. Again, Abraham depended on God.

How much do you depend on God? When you are depressed, what do you turn to for joy? When you are bored, what do you turn to for fulfillment? When you are angry, who do you depend on to help calm you down? In a culture of independence, we have been conditioned to try to find all the solutions ourselves. We pride ourselves in being a nation of rugged individuals, when we are really designed to depend on our creator.

Read Philippians 4:10-13. What things in your life are you discontented (unhappy) about? How do you handle those things? Do you depend upon God to give you joy and contentment in the middle of uncertainty? When you depend on God for your strength, you will learn contentment in any situation.

Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. What things would you like for God to remove from your life? What would you like God to add? When God tells us His grace is sufficient, it means that as long as we have a relationship with Christ, we don't need God to add or subtract anything. We just depend on His goodness.

Pray that you will find a newfound dependence on God for all your needs, troubles, joys, relationships, etc. He alone is sufficient!