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How many of you like Roller Coasters? How many of you don’t like Roller Coasters?
Most historians agree that the first roller coaster was invented in Russia during the mid-1600’s. Riders climbed stairs to the top of a giant ice slide and sped down a 50 degree drop. The slides gained favor with the Russian upper class and some were ornately decorated to provide entertainment “fit for royalty.” It is said that Catherine the Great was a large fan that she had a few built on her own property. During the winter festival, slides were built between seventy and eighty feet high, stretched for hundreds of feet and accommodated many sleds at once.
The first American roller coaster was called the Switchback Railway and it debuted in 1884 at Coney Island, New York. It was invented by La Marcus Thompson, a creative man who invented a number of other things. No one is sure why Thompson decided to go into the amusement park business, but coaster folklore says that he was a Sunday school teacher who was discouraged by all of the depravity found at places of amusement during his time.
Whether you find roller coasters thrilling or terrifying, most of us have discovered that life is like a roller coaster. It is filled with highs and lows and it takes us through many twists and turns. It goes fast and even throws us for an occasional loop.
Have you ever noticed that faith is also a lot like a roller coaster? As we go through life, sometimes we feel so close to God that we could almost touch him, but there are other times when we feel like God is nowhere to be found! Sometimes God’s will for our lives is so clear that we know exactly what to do, but other times we don’t have a clue what God wants us to do! Sometimes our faith is so strong that we will follow God anywhere, but there are other times when we wonder if he even exists!
The Bible holds up Abraham as one of the greatest champions of faith. In the great hall of faith in Hebrews 11, more verses are dedicated to Abraham that any other person in biblical history. But when we examine his life closely, we see that even Abraham experienced the roller coaster of faith!
Abraham’s Call (Genesis 12:1-3)
Abraham was a tenth generation descendant from Noah’s son Shem. He was born, raised, and lived the first 75 years of his life in Ur of the Chaldeans. After spending 75 years in the same town, one gets pretty settled in his ways. Abraham was comfortable there—after all his family had been there for generations. Ur was the capital of Chaldea and the largest city in the world in Abraham’s day. It had a population of 65,000 people and was strategically located along the Euphrates River as an important trade city.
It was a cosmopolitan city that boasted one of the strongest economies and some of the greatest technological advances in the ancient world. Most of the houses in Ur were two story villas with 13 or 14 rooms and plastered interior walls. Some of the homes even had in-door plumbing. (I have friends in West Virginia who didn’t get in-door plumbing until 1985)
Ur was the pinnacle of ancient civilization. It had all the comfort and security you could ever want. No one in their right mind would ever want to leave there. That is why Abraham exhibited such tremendous faith. God revealed himself to Abraham and told him to leave his country, his people, and his family, and move to a land he had never seen before.
Both God’s command and promise to Abraham is staggering. God was calling him to leave everything that was comfortable and secure in his life. In return, God promised to pour out his blessing on Abraham and make him into a great nation. All the peoples of the earth would be blessed through him.
Now this promise sounded great, except for the fact that he was 75 and his wife was 65 years old and they had no children. And now God tells him that he is going to make him into a great nation. It would have taken incredible faith to trust God here, but Abraham did. This was Abraham’s first mountaintop moment of faith!
Like Abraham, sometimes God calls us to leave our comfort and security behind to follow him. Sometimes he calls us to leave what is familiar and to trust his plan for our future, even though it may not make sense to us. Sometimes he calls us to leave the comfort of our home or the security of our career! Sometimes he calls us to leave the familiarity of our family to enter his Promised Land for our lives. When he calls, do you have the faith to follow him? Do you trust him even when his plan doesn’t make sense to you?
Abraham Settles in Haran (Genesis 11:31-32)
Well, Abraham’s faith hit a peak when he left Ur, but it was about to descend into a valley when he got to Haran. Let’s back up to Genesis 11:31-32 for a minute. It says that Abraham, his wife Sarai, his father Terah, and his nephew Lot, all left Ur to go to Canaan, but when they reached Haran, they settled there. Also, look at 12:1 again—the text says “The Lord had said to Abram…” God called Abraham to settle in the land of Canaan, not in Haran. Haran was only half way to the Promised Land.
We don’t know why Abraham settled in Haran. Perhaps he didn’t obey God fully because of family pressure. Maybe Lot said, “Uncle Abraham, I’m afraid! I’ve never been this far from home before.” Maybe Terah said, “Sonny boy, it’s OK to be religious, but you don’t want to go overboard.” Maybe Sarai said, “Haran seems like a really nice place to live. We don’t even know what Canaan looks like.” Whether it was the spirit of fear, compromise, comfort, or something else, Abraham showed a lapse of faith by settling in Haran.
This is the way it is with a lot of people today. They try to leave their life of sin and head for the Promised Land of abundant life by faith, but after getting off to a good start, they get about halfway and stop. How many people are dwelling in Haran instead of pushing on to the Promised Land?
Also, I believe there are a great many Christians who are what we might call Haran Christians. They only half obey God. They may go to church; they might talk a good Christian game, but when it really comes down to it, they are not sold out for the Lord!
How about you? Where is your faith? Are you marching to the Promised Land, or are you half way at Haran?
Abraham Goes to Canaan (Genesis 12:4-9)
Abraham’s faith hit another high point when he got to the Promised Land. After a five year hiatus at Haran, Abraham packed up everything that belonged to him and continued toward the land of Canaan. As he came to the great tree of Moreh at Shechem and the hills between Bethel and Ai, he pitched his tents and built altars to the Lord.
This text shows a progression of worship. As Abraham’s faith and obedience deepened by going further into the land of Canaan, so did his worship. God appeared to him and told him that this land would be his, and Abraham continued to build altars of worship and call on the name of the Lord.
Like Abraham, as our faith and obedience deepens, so does our worship. The more we trust God’s plan for our lives and the more we step out in faith and obey his commands, we experience more of God in worship. We call on his name more and we hear him speaking to us more.
When you don’t seem to be experiencing God’s presence in worship, check your faith! When you don’t hear God speaking to you in prayer, check your obedience. Our faith/obedience goes hand in hand with our worship!
Abraham in Egypt (Genesis 12:10-20)
Abraham’s rollercoaster of faith began to descend again as a severe famine hit the land of Canaan. Instead of trusting God to provide his needs and sustain his life in the Promised Land, he took matters into his own hands and went to Egypt. He probably justified this in his own mind by thinking, “God promised to bless me and make me into a great nation. If I die in this famine, he won’t be able to keep his promise.” (As if God needs any help from us to keep his promises.)
As they were walking along the road to Egypt, Abraham’s faith continued to dive. He got to thinking and said to his wife, “Honey, you are a really good looking woman. I am lucky to have you and I never want to lose you. When the Egyptians see how beautiful you are, they will say, ‘He is his wife’ and they will kill me but let you live. Let’s say that you are my sister so they will treat me well.” So, that is what they did! Instead of trusting God to keep his promise, they took matters into their own hands again and disobeyed God by lying to the Egyptians.
As you hear this episode, let me ask you: Have you ever doubted God’s promises by taking matters into our own hands? Do you ever think that God needs you to help him keep his promises? Do you strive to control things that were never meant for our control? If we stop striving to control our lives and trust God’s plan, we will have a lot more peace and joy. Unfortunately, Abraham had to learn the hard way! How about you?
Abraham and Lot (Genesis 13-14)
After Abraham’s faith dipped in Egypt, it really began to dive as he reentered the Promised Land. His flocks and Lot’s flocks had become quite large and a quarrel arose between their herdsmen. Abraham realized that both of their herds had become too large to graze together, so he suggested that they separate. Abraham told Lot, “If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right. If you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” But remember, God had called him to the land of Canaan; he made a mistake by allowing Lot to choose whatever land he wanted.
Lot saw that the whole plain east of the Jordan River was well watered. So, he selfishly chose what appeared to be the better land. Even though Abraham made the mistake of allowing Lot to choose whatever land he wanted, God’s providence allowed for Abraham to stay in Canaan, where God wanted him all along. Unfortunately for Lot, his selfish decision led to his downfall. Even though the land east of the Jordan looked better, it was close to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were well known for their wickedness.
How often is this the way it is with us? In spite of our poor choices and sinful decisions, God still blesses us! God continues to pour out his grace upon us and his providence even brings good out of our mistakes. He can turn our biggest blunders into blessings. He keeps his word and fulfills his promises in spite of our failures!
The Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 15)
Well, Abraham’s rollercoaster of faith ends on a high note today. Despite all of Abraham’s lapses of faith, God was still faithful to him. As the years went by, Abraham still didn’t have a son, but God said to him, “Do not be afraid Abram. I am your shield and your very great reward.” Then he took Abraham outside and gave him a little astronomy lesson. God said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be.” Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited to him as righteousness.
God counted Abraham righteous because of his faith, not because of his actions. We all know that Abraham screwed up multiple times. He sinned against God in many ways, but through his faith, God counted him righteous.
The salvation of our souls today goes back to these words. Nobody enters God’s ultimate Promised Land because they are good people or because they have done good deeds. We are just like Abraham. We are all sinners who have fallen short of God’s glory. We have disobeyed God and we deserve to be punished for our sins. But God is rich in mercy; he counts our souls righteous in his sight through our faith in his son Jesus Christ!
You see, Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. Jesus was the descendant who would bring blessing to all the peoples on the earth. We experience God’s greatest blessing today when we receive Christ’s righteousness through faith. Jesus Christ, Abraham’s seed, is the only way to eternal life and everlasting blessing. Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ?
Abraham’s life was a roller coaster of faith. His faith fluctuated between trust and doubt; between obedience and disobedience. I suspect that most of us have experienced this same roller coaster of faith. Where is your faith today?
When you find yourself on the mountaintop of faith, hang on as long as you can and enjoy the ride! When you are in the depths of doubt and despair, hang in there! It will be over soon! God will get you through it, just like he did Abraham. Keep the faith! We’re on the way to the Promised Land!