Abram continues his journey to Caanan, and having been thrown out of Egypt by the Pharaoh following a misunderstanding about what exact relation Sarai was to Abram, he returned to a place where he had camped before. "and there he worshiped the Lord again." (Gen 13 v 4)
After a while a dispute broke out between Abram and Lot as the land could not support the number of people they had with them. Abram resolved the conflict in a very wise and godly manner. He allowed Lot to choose the land he wanted to keep.
I find this very interesting as it shows how close Abram was to God. Had Abram not been trusting God with everything then surely he would have done the very human thing of choosing the land he wanted for himself first or even fighting with Lot to keep the land he desired. Instead, he allowed Lot to choose and God rewarded him by again promising that all the land he could see to the North, South, East and West would belong to him and his descendants. (at this point I always wonder whether Abram thought God was pulling his leg, as he had no descendants and as such who would the land belong to?)
Abram responds in his usual manner: "...he built another altar to the Lord" (Gen 13 v 18)
The story continues with Abram saving Lot from the invaders of Sodom, where Lot was living at the time. Having defeated the invaders and rescued Lot, the king of Sodom offered Abram all the treasures he had recovered which rightfully belonged to Sodom. Abram refused the treasures, essentially stating that he would not want anyone to think that it was Sodom, not God, who had made him wealthy.
Some time later, Abram is talking to God, asking him what good are all the blessings if he has no son to inherit them. This is the point at which God puts the point across bluntly "...you will have a son of your own who will be your heir." (Gen 15 v 4) Again, had I been Abram at the time I would probably have said (or at least thought) "yeah right, I'll believe that when I see it!". Abram didn't. The next verse very simply says: "And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith."
How often do we find it easier to doubt the Lord than to simply believe in His promises? It can be very easy to simply remember the times of hardship and forget the times of harvest. It can be so easy to attribute bad circumstances to God and good circumstances to ourselves or simple coincidence. Abram shows that whatever circumstances we are in, God is with us. He will not leave us and His promises are reliable, therefore all we have to do is believe.
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