Doing What Dad Did

One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans.  He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there. [Genesis 11.31]

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. [Genesis 12.1]

I found it interesting today that Abram's journey to Canaan was not entirely original to him.  It was in fact Abram's father Terah who first initiated to move away from Ur of the Chaldeans with Canaan as the destination.  But for whatever reason, Terah's journey with his family (including Abram) ended in Haran.

What I find interesting about this is that when God directed Abram to go to Canaan, it was a continuation of direction Abram was already familiar with.  It was direction, for whatever reason, that had already been introduced (if you will) by Abram's father Terah.

What's the take-away from this?  Perhaps that direction in our lives might not be as difficult as we make it.  Perhaps we can find some confirmation in our direction through our fathers.  Perhaps when we are unsure, 'doing what dad did' might at least be a place to start...

Father, in times when we are struggling to know where we need to be (ie. what we need to be doing and in what location), is it possible that we can gain direction or confirmation from our own earthly fathers?