Week 6: Genesis 12-15 – God’s Call on Abram

Week 6: Genesis 12-15 – God’s Call on Abram

As a family, read Genesis 12 together. Afterwards, share the following discussion.

What happened? 

Abram didn’t know why God was selecting him or for what purpose, but the Lord did have a purpose.  (Later in Genesis God told Abram that purpose and changed his name to Abraham, but that’s a story for another week.) God came to Abram and told him to pack up his family and everything he owned, and go to… “the land I will show you.” Abram wasn’t sure where God was telling him to go, but he was sure that he needed to follow what God told him to do. So Abram set out with all his livestock (he owned a lot of animals), his wife, Sarai, all of their servants, and his nephew, Lot.

Along the way, there were some really rocky moments. Abram and Sarai had trouble while traveling through Egypt because they tried to protect themselves by being sneaky and untruthful. The Pharaoh of Egypt even took Sarai to live in his house. But God stepped in and revealed the truth to Pharaoh so he would let her go. As the journey continued, Lot and Abram had to split up; but a war erupted in the land where Lot lived, and he was captured. So Abram and a group of his trained fighting men conducted a rescue mission to save Lot.

But the journey doesn’t stop there. During this time, Abram and Sarai wanted to have kids. In fact, in Genesis 15, God told Abram that his descendants would be like the number of stars in the night sky. Abram had prayed and Sarai had prayed, but they still had no children in their old age.

Abram finally made it to the land God had been leading them to. There, God made a covenant with Abram that He would use his family and this land to make a great nation. That nation would bring glory to God’s kingdom.

To find out more about God’s promise to Abram, read Genesis 15.

Why is this important to us, today?

God asked Abram to follow Him even when it didn’t made sense, and the journey became difficult. From the beginning, they didn’t know exactly where God was taking them. But Abram was faithful and trusted that God was in control.  Abram learned that where God guides, God provides.  Abram chose to place his faith in God, and God took responsibility for making sure he and his family were taken care of. Abram believed God when He said, “Do not be afraid, I will protect you.”

Like Abram, we may not know the outcome of everything God asks us to do, but we can trust the One Who asks us to do it.

Spend a few minutes talking about what you just read by answering these questions together:

What parts of Abram’s journey were most interesting and exciting? How was Abram faithful to God, even when it was scary and confusing?

How can we better follow God this week?

What has God directed your family to do that requires complete faith in Him? What exciting or scary things have happened on your “journey of faith”? How can you still be faithful to God, even when it is scary?

Remember that where God guides, God provides. As Abraham found, what God asks for, God provides for. God will take responsibility for what we need; we just need to follow Him.