Terah took his son Abram, and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred five years; and Terah died in Haran. (Genesis 11: 31, 32, NRSV, emphasis provided).
Merciful God, it is so easy for us, as travellers along the road of life, to settle down before we reach our intended destination. Please teach us something today, that will keep us travelling until we reach where You want us to go. In the holy name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
It is amazing how the LORD can send us messages from the most unusual places. I have never given much thought to the life of Terah, except that “Terah was the father of Abram. . .” (27). I never thought I would find such a thought-provoker in Terah’s life. “Terah . . . went out . . . to go into the land of Canaan; but . . . Terah died in Haran. Because Sripture does not give me anything else to go on why, Terah settled in Haran instead of going on to his intended destination, let us see how we can find an application for our own lives, today.
I will begin with myself; at least I know where it applies to my life. I came back to school many years after graduating from high school. My intentions were to take Religious Studies in college. There were no two ways about that. That was my life’s passion. Those were my intentions. Nevertheless, my first year back in school, found me pursuing an education in Psychology. That is not hard to understand, when you consider, that Psychology is my second love! Perhaps, unlike Terah, I would not have died, while studying Psychology, but there was the real possibility of burying my dreams of getting a degree in the field of Religion. But God, in a very definite, unequivocal, way, put me back on track.
It was the Spring quarter of 2002. It was my second year at La Sierra University. I was registered in College Algebra, Intro to Info Systems, and Adventism in Global Perspective. I was terribly stressed out. So much so, that one morning I did not want to get out of bed; I felt so depressed! I finally dragged myself off of the bed unto my knees; and had a “little talk with Jesus.” I told Him that I did not believe that He had brought me back to school to be stressed out. I asked Him to show me what was going on. Almost immediately, I became aware of one outstanding fact – the only class that was not causing me stress, was my religious class. It was as if a light bulb was turned on in my brain! “God,” I said, “if You are telling me, what I believe You are telling me, then please make it plain!”
At the time, even though my religious class was not causing me stress, I was a bit concerned that I was not headed toward an A in the class. That was bothering me. So I said to the Lord, “If You are calling me to a degree in Religious Studies, then I ask You to help me to get an A; not an A-, but a complete A, in this class.” To make a long story short, when I came to the end of the quarter, guess what! Yes, I received an A! It was the last A on the list. I should know. I went scrolling down that list; and there at the very bottom of percentages was my student ID, with my beautiful, God-sent A. Of course I loved the course and worked hard for my A, but, I have also worked hard and ended up with A-s or B+s. I believe, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that God answered my prayer!
Oh, what I did not tell you, is that that was my first quarter in the School of Social Work (I love that field as well)! Oh yes! I was running off in another direction, again! But, thank God! I did not settle in Haran and let my dreams die. I went on to Canaan, and like Caleb, claimed my mountain! I almost settled down too soon! But thank God; He did not allow it! We will continue with this conversation tomorrow!