Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Traveling Companions

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When Sarah was 127 years old, she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her. (Genesis 23:1–2)

FOR THE FIRST part of their life together, Abraham and Sarah worshiped many gods. Then they received a visit from the one true Creator God, who said, in effect, "I have chosen you to become My models of faith. Through My relationship with you and your descendants, I will redeem the world from sin and evil."

The Lord then uprooted the couple from their comfortable and predictable life. From then on, they learned to depend entirely upon Him for protection and provision. Abraham was seventy-five at the time; Sarah was sixty-five. They had been married about fifty years before their journey of faith began.

The couple set out together for a destination that had yet to be revealed by God. They didn't know where they were headed, and they had neither a map nor a GPS to guide the way. This man and his wife traveled strictly by faith. After fifty years of marriage, their entire lifestyle changed completely. God called them to a nomadic existence-both physically and spiritually. They were to live in a land not yet their own so they might establish their permanent home in God's faithful care.

This story becomes even more remarkable when you stop to think that Abraham and Sarah were not newlyweds when they became nomads. Abraham and Sarah ventured into the unknown during what was, for them, middle age.

They experienced many tests and trials together, sometimes failing and sometimes overcoming. And at long last, after 112 years of married life, Sarah's faith journey ended. She died, and her faith became sight.

Whether you are married or not, all of us need people to walk with us on our journey of faith. God designed us for community, and we were not meant to travel alone.

 

REFLECT

What fellow travelers walk with you on your journey of faith? Thank the Lord for these people, and seek ways you can support each other along the way.

 

A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

ECCLESIASTES 4:12