A Story of God and All of Us - By Roma Downey Page 0,3

courtyard and sees his beloved nephew, Lot.

"Abram," Lot greets him.

Abram slaps a friendly hand on his shoulder and steps briskly toward the front door.

Lot's wife stands to one side of the courtyard, cleaning, as Abram sweeps through. She and her husband exchange curious looks: they recognize something is different about Abram. Very different. They both shrug.

Inside, Abram calls, "Sarai," and then yells: "Sarai!"

He finds his wife in the back of the house, kneeling before a small clay figurine.

Abram's voice is tender and comforting. "Fertility dolls? Fertility dolls? Do we really have need of fertility dolls? What use have they been? Have they brought us children?"

Sarai weeps, thinking she hears disappointment in his voice. "Abram, I've failed you. It is my fault we have not been blessed."

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Abram remembers his good news, and takes his wife into his arms. "Sarai, we are blessed. Today, God has spoken to me."

"Which God?"

" The God."

Sarai pulls back, confused. Theirs is a world of many different gods and idols, each designed to fulfill a specific need. Placing faith in just one god is a tremendously risky act.

"I speak the truth," Abram promises. "He has chosen me. Chosen us ."

"For what? I do not understand."

"He wants us to leave here."

"Leave? But our whole life is here."

"Yes, Sarai. Leave. We are going away from this city to a new land. And we will have children in that new land. Of that I am sure. God has promised."

Sarai wants to believe Abram. She desperately wants a child, and she would do anything to present her husband with a son. But the prospect of leaving their home and setting off into the wilderness is almost more than she can bear. She looks hard at Abram, torn by her love for him and her fears of what might happen if they leave the safety and security of Ur.

Abram understands. He is a compassionate man who loves his wife more than life itself. But he also knows they must do God's will. "Believe me, Sarai. Believe me. He spoke to me. Sarai, He promised. Think about that: God made me a promise. A covenant. And God always keeps His promises.

We must have faith that He will lead us to a land of wonder."

Sarai has always believed that there was something remarkable about her husband. He is not the sort to make delusional claims. Although he is asking her to do something extraordinary, something unimaginable, she knows she must trust him.

Sarai squeezes Abram's hand and smiles. "Take us there."

Abram sets out with Sarai, his nephew Lot and his wife, and a small army of friends and servants that form their extended family. Among them is 12

Sarai's young servant girl, an Egyptian named Hagar. They travel north and west, following the ancient roads of what we now call the Fertile Crescent, trusting God to lead them to the land He has promised Abram. Their journey takes them through a city known as Haran and finally to a bountiful land of water and palm trees that offers a green oasis in an otherwise barren desert.

But the land is not enough for all of Abram's party and their animals. Making matters worse, seeds of dissension are sown by Lot's wife, a jealous and small-hearted woman who chafes at Abram's authority for forcing her to relocate. It soon becomes a standoff, with Abram and his followers on one side, and the followers of his beloved nephew Lot on the other.

The situation finally explodes when two shepherds start a fight. Each believes the other is intruding on his grazing land. They roll in the dust, punching and gouging at one another. Lot sees them first. He races to the fight, his wife a few steps behind.

"Lemuel!" Lot yells to his shepherd. "Stop! Now!"

Lemuel reluctantly releases his hold on Amasa, one of Abram's shepherds.

Amasa sneaks in one last punch and then dances back before Lemuel can retaliate. Both men gasp for air, their robes covered in dust and their faces scratched and bloodied.

Abram has heard the commotion and arrives on the scene. "What is happening here?" he asks.

"Your shepherd is stealing our grazing land," Lot's wife hisses.

"We need grazing land to feed our families," Amasa insists.

"So do we," argues Lemuel, who clenches his fists, ready to fight once more.

"This land belongs to all of us," Abram calmly tells the men. "God gave it to us to share."

Lot's wife is furious. She glares at Abram. "Then He should have given us more of it," she tells him. A stunned silence