“…they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Harlan, they settled there.” (Gen. 11:31)
We drove to Atlanta last weekend to check on my family. Coming home that night, there was an eerie darkness that sat over the businesses that usually are lit up with neon and bright lights. It was like shadow upon shadow.
There were no traffic lights or street lamps, and it was hard to get your bearings even driving down the main roads in our town. We had no trouble until we got into Greenville, but it was so dark that we relied on GPS even on such a familiar route.
There were trees down across the roads that you couldn’t even see until you were right up on them. It was so dark. Unrecognizable! Everything was unsettling in our storm ravaged-area.
We spent 9 days with no power, and we still don’t have internet at home. Our area was dark, but we weren’t impacted nearly as bad as people living in Western North Carolina. Please pray for them!
At first, this was a fun new adventure, but after several days of cold water, no lights, no internet, and no A/C, I was tired of the frontier life and ready for the 21st Century again.
Prior to the storm, we were doing great! Leslie and I were eating better, and we had committed to a softer version of 75 Hard a couple of weeks ago. For us, it meant cleaning up our diet, drinking much more water each day, getting 45 minutes of exercise at least once per day, reading 10 pages per day, and getting 7 hours of sleep every night. We were doing great! We hadn’t missed a day in several weeks until the storm hit, and we felt amazing.
Then the storm knocked out the electricity at the gym and throughout the rest of the city. I heard that there were only 200 homes in Greenville, SC, that still had power after the Hurricane blew through.
Now we can’t hike at the state park. The food we had on hand went bad in the freezer. Since it was so dark, we enjoyed evenings with family and friends around a bonfire with S’mores. And, the days dragged on in darkness, we were knocked off our new habit of eating and living.
No electricity, horrible internet, and spotty cell service. It was so easy to lose your way at night. Nothing was familiar.
During the time we were impacted by the impact of the storm, I started studying Abraham again, and I noticed something new. Maybe, you knew this.
Terah, who is Abram’s father, takes Sarai and Lot, and all of them leave Ur of the Chaldeans, which is a city in Iraq that still exists, and leave for the Land of Canaan (Gen. 11: 31). Stephen in Acts 7 also says that an angel came to Abraham in Mesopotamia in the land of the Chaldeans.
For Terah, there are no circumstances around this trip given in the Scriptures. There is no visit to Terah by an angel like there was for Abraham and no mention of an urge or push. The Bible just says that Terah and part of his family left for Canaan.
He left but never made it!
Something happened but we don’t know what it is. Was it a great storm? Death in the family? Or, did Terah just like it in Haran.
The Bible just simply says, “they settled there.” And then, Terah died when he is 205 years old.
All we know is that Terah left Ur with conviction. He had to in order to abandon what he left behind.
He left his homeland in which there was a genealogy that stretched back to Noah as we see in the same chapter. He had a son there. His parents lived there, and his entire family back to Shem lived close by.
Terah left Ur with the intention of going to Canaan, but he got side-tracked. Something in Haran drew him in. There is no explanation. He just lost his desire. He no longer wanted to make it to Canaan, and the path didn’t feel clear to him.
Therefore, he died there. And, at some point, Abraham, Sarai, and Lot left Terah in Haran.
So, what happened in Haran? What was it that kept Terah there? Was there anything significant at all?
It doesn’t have to be significant. This happens all the time. We do this as well in our contemporary lives.
We start something with the conviction that this is exactly what we should be doing.
But, then we lose our “want-to.” Things get dark and shadow-y. The path seems longer and more challenging than we expected.
Then we think…”you know, where I am at is not so bad. I can get used to living like this.” And, then we accept a lesser light or something lesser than God has for us.
We get comfortable and then the years roll by. Our desire starts to wane. We aren’t willing to reach for what God has for us. And, we accept a new normal and disdain the potential discomfort of moving.
The adventure loses its adventure.
Have you ever had that happen? You start something off with conviction, but then you lose your way. You get used to a new normal, then you look around and things are not what you had hoped for.
But, now you don’t move. You just hold on!
At least you know what you have…Therefore, you accept the things that you don’t love and just grin and bear it. Was this what God had for you??
It’s now October and many of you have been homeschooling for a couple of months. How are things going? What about in your home?
Do you feel like you have lost your way a little? If so, the best thing for you to do is to remember.
Remember why you felt called to walk down this path.
Are you being partially obedient to the call of the Lord? To phrase this in the terms of our story, have you come to Haran but not made it all the way to Canaan?
