In Genesis 13, Abram finds himself at a place called the Negev between Bethel and Ai. He had been there months before, at a time when he was full of faith; when God had promised him blessings and he was worshiping and walking with God. But just as Abraham was walking by faith, headed to the Negev in Genesis 12, suffering came into his life. There wasn’t blessing pouring over Abram as God had promised; there a famine instead. And rather than continuing to walk by faith, Abram took matters into his own hands and tried to get out of his suffering by sinful means by going down to Egypt. After his failure of faith, God leads Abram out of Egypt right back to the place where he failed, not to rub in his failure but to continue him back on his journey of faith. In Genesis 13, Abram arrives in the Negev once again. This time the test of faith will not be from sin or suffering; the test of faith will be success. Abundance can be just as spiritually derailing as adversity. But Genesis 13 shows us that God is faithful to his promises, even in times of of our sin, our suffering, and our success.
