“A Long Slow Walk” (FACING JERICHO Day Two)

13 Jul “A Long Slow Walk” (FACING JERICHO Day Two)

Read Genesis 11:27-32
Thought for the Day: Faith is a long slow walk!

When we face the future, how much do we look back and consider the past? Think about it: many of the ideas we label as “possible” for our futures are directly related to the influence of past events or family members. Conversely, the experiences and limits of those we look up to can cause us to artificially limit what we say is possible. The failure of the previous generation can become an obstacle like the walls of Jericho.

Before he was called Abraham and became the great Patriarch of the Israelites, Abram was a man who lived in the shadow of his father’s failures. While God had called Terah to travel to the land of Canaan, he only went halfway and ended his journey in Haran. After Terah’s death, Abram was forced to confront the limitations of his father’s partial faithfulness. Abram had a choice: would he stay in Haran like his father or continue to follow God’s leading for the rest of the journey? Fortunately, he chose obedience and began a long, slow walk through the wilderness.

In our lives, it is easy to simply live out the cycles we inherit. In our families, we have to choose whether to break or continue cycles. The same is true at work: if a toxic culture exists, each of us has the choice to perpetuate it with gossip or make our own positive choices. Let’s learn to remember the lesson of Abraham and see that we are not defined by the choices of others. Instead, life is best when we see it as a long slow walk of faith!

In Christ,
Pastors Stan and David