Just Like Family

Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

Psalm 43:3

Have you ever made a comment, and as you spoke the very words, you realized they could have been straight out of your mother's mouth? These moments of realization can be a sweet confirmation of wisdom imparted, or they can be a shock to your soul! We all have mothers with wonderful qualities and not-so-wonderful qualities. We ARE all people with wonderful and not-so-wonderful qualities. 

We have learned from our parents how to handle life, or at least, how they handled certain situations. So, what do we do when faced with similar situations? We often respond in just the way our folks did.

In Genesis 12, after Abraham had made it to the Promised Land, there was a famine. Abraham packed up and went to Egypt to live for a while. This is where he lied about Sarah being his wife because he was afraid. God showed Pharaoh the truth about Sara and Abraham, and he sent Abraham and Sarah away.

In Genesis 26, years later, there was another famine. But this time the story is about Abraham's son, Isaac. And what did Isaac do? He did just as his father had done. He headed for Egypt. God stopped Isaac and told him to stay put, though he had already left his homeland. Guess what else Isaac did? He lied to the king about his wife, Rebecca, being his sister. Like father, like son.

Some of the examples of our parents are rock solid. They made choices we hope we would have the guts to make. We can all agree that Abraham was an example of a man of faith. Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).

Sometimes what was right for our parents might not be right for us. And sometimes we follow their footsteps into destruction. We must make the choices that God has for us. Let’s use Him as our guide rather than others. It’s not always easy to know what to do, but we can know Him. Let’s focus on drawing near to Him, and He will reveal what we need to know, when we need to know it.

God, thank You that You are our Father, whom we can trust. Show us how to follow You daily with You as our Guide.

Julie Smith