Read: Genesis 12:1-9
And Abram took Sarai his wife . . . and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. (v. 5)
Nobody asked the wife. Abram, later to become Abraham, the great patriarch of the Old Testament, is celebrated as a man of great faith. However, his wife, Sarai (later called Sarah), also left her people to wander through the wilderness for the rest of her life. We are told that Abram heard the voice of God, but we don’t know about Sarai. She was simply expected to follow. It must have been hard for her to leave her family and everything that was familiar. Even harder, to know that her husband was seeking the promise of children she couldn’t conceive. She was destined to wander for the rest of her life as a result of someone else’s dream.
Between God’s promise and its fulfillment, Sarai spent long years as a nomad alongside her husband, shaking dust off of tent flaps and clothing, and waiting for a God she’d never met to act. Perhaps she questioned whether her husband had really heard from this new God, wondering whether the promise would really come true, or if all the discomfort of this wandering life would prove futile.
Wandering with no clear hope of anything coming of it is a wilderness experience. Have you ever questioned whether God’s promises were really for you, or felt disconnected from the presence and word of God? You’re in good company. —Amy Curran
As you pray, ask for the strength to trust that God is working, even when it’s hard to see.
About the Author
Amy Curran is a gardener, a reader, a runner, and an avid coffee drinker. She lives in Durham, North Carolina, where she runs a community garden and a farm-to-table café for Reality Ministries.
