Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

BY THE TIME Ishmael arrived, Abram had turned eighty-six. If we skip ahead to read about the birth of Isaac, the true son of Abram’s covenant with God, we’ll see Abram was one hundred years old then.

WHEN LOT was making a decision about which land to choose, he didn’t consider God as a factor in shaping his future. He made all his calculations based upon the potential influences of nature and humanity.

MOST OF US rise to meet adversity with our best character. However, our true character comes out when things go really well. It’s easy to become arrogant, self-sustaining, conceited, greedy, and condescending at such times.

ABRAM LIED to Pharaoh to save his own skin, telling him that Sarai was his sister. In doing so, he put her in jeopardy. But where he failed to protect his wife, the Lord overwhelmingly succeeded in doing so.

FOR ABRAM, this season of hunger represented a major test. While God didn’t cause the famine, He certainly used it as an instrument in the development of Abram’s faith.

AFTER SPENDING much of his life—perhaps from birth—in Ur of the Chaldeans, Abram was instructed by God to go to a place to be disclosed later.

GOD’S CALL of Abram began with an imperative—a clear command. God told him to leave his country for a land that He would show him . . . sometime later.

Even though I have known people like this, still, I cannot fathom Saul's perspective. How can anyone be so clueless?

Saul's disobedient actions involved at least three major errors. First, kings weren't supposed to offer sacrifices on behalf of the community. Kings could offer sacrifices for themselves, but never for the nation.

When the people located their new king, they celebrated. And why not? This was a glorious day. Saul was tall, strong, modest, and had the full support of his nation. From a human point of view, this was a beautiful start to a new era.

From the time that Joshua died until Saul took the throne of Israel, the Hebrew government was not a monarchy like most surrounding nations. Theologians refer to it as a theocracy—"God-rule."

The temptation of any child of vocational Christian ministers is to see the work of the ministry as just another thing, just another religious occupation.

Eli was a great preacher, a fine priest. As the high priest, he was responsible, once each year, to enter the Most Holy Place and offer an atoning sacrifice on behalf of the nation. No one else had that privilege.

Eli and Samuel were probably taking their turn sleeping in the tabernacle to keep the lamp lit. They slept in little rooms or closets near that special area of God's presence.

The setting is Israel before the glory days of King David. There has been a long period—a couple hundred years—of intermittent warfare, cycles of events during which Israel would suffer invasion followed by famine.

Paul wrote with urgency, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season."

All those going through a storm need to be engaged in the process. No one is promised a magical escape clause. Passivity is faith's enemy. It isn't an acceptable option to fold our arms and wait for the storm to pass.

Can you imagine fighting a storm for two weeks and getting virtually no nourishment? That's what the men on Paul's ship experienced. Even more amazing, that's how most people respond to life's storms.

The scene breathed life-threatening fears. Imaginations ran wild. Paul knew that staying together was the secret to their survival. The temptation was strong to abandon ship and let each person fend for himself.

The anchor of stability holds firm when your navigation system fails. It's easy to lose your bearings in the storm. You can't find your way through the circumstances you face. Life rolls along fairly smoothly until suddenly the seas grow rough.