Understanding God: He is Agreeable
Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you… So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. – Genesis 12:1,4-5
Another endearing attribute of God that we shall meditate on today is His predilection for agreeing with human dreams and wishes, particularly those that are lofty, audacious and do not conflict with His will, a la the tower of Babel. He is an agreeable God.
We had previously read about how Terah, the father of Abraham, decided to relocate his family from the land of Ur of the Chaldeans to the land of Canaan, a journey of about 2,000 kilometers. We also saw how Terah only covered about 1,100 kilometers of his planned journey before he died in the land of Haran, some 900 kilometers away from his original destination.
There was no indication that God and Terah had any conversation about this journey before he embarked on it. However, his move must have impressed God enough that even after his death, God approached his son, Abraham, and invited him to continue the journey.
This is an eye-revealing insight into the character of God indeed. He knew Terah’s original intention and saw how he fell short of his target by dying enroute the journey in the land of Haran. God also saw how Abraham, the son of Terah, appeared to have settled where he was with no intention of continuing the expedition that his father had started.
One cannot blame Abraham for deciding to settle down in Haran. After all, the audacious 2,000-kilometer journey through rough and rocky terrains was not his own idea in the first place. It was his father who wanted to embark on the journey. He, Abraham, was only being a good son by going along with him.
God knew all this. But more impressive was the fact that God decided to help Abraham to complete the journey rather than just watch him settle down in Haran. So He approached Abraham and called him to proceed on the journey.
This gesture of God tells us that He is agreeable to our ambitions, aspirations and plans. He says ‘Yes’ to our dreams and is not all out to scuttle them as some portray Him to be. He is not a killjoy. Even when we max out and become weary along the way, as we see with Terah, who died on the way and Abraham, who wanted to settle for less, God is willing to step in and help us keep going.
We did not read that either Terah or Abraham prayed to God at any point in their endeavors. But God had become so vested in Terah’s ambitious expedition that He came to Abraham uninvited to discuss the stalled subject of continuing the journey. Some God, isn’t He?
Selah!
Also read:
- Understanding God: He Consults
- The Benefits of Wisdom: Preservation and Safekeeping
- Calling God
- Is Doubt the Opposite of Faith?
- Persistence And The Power of God
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