Impact Magazine

WHERE DID IT FALL? 

Muyiwa Omole 

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In Genesis 12 we read about how God called Abraham and how he obeyed God by faith.

Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken to him…

(verse 4)

Abraham obeyed God and he began to advance forward towards the Promised Land. Abraham went from the plains to the mountains in obedience to God’s instruction. He kept going forward, advancing in his journey and he got to a place called Bethel and built an altar to the Lord. (verse 7)

But there was a negative turn in verse 10:

Now there was a famine in the land

And Abraham “went down” to Egypt

to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.

(Emphasis mine)

Abraham departed from the will of God by going down to Egypt.

Note:     verse 5 – “…they went forth”

                Verse 8 – moved…to the mountains”

                Verse 9 – going on still forward

Here, the movement was forward and upward, but the moment he departed form the will of God he “went down.” The moment he departed, he started living in fear; fear of being killed by the Egyptians (verse 12). He even had to lie to preserve himself, losing faith in the ability of God to protect him. Anytime any man leaves where God has placed him, fear sets in. In Adam’s case he had to “hide” from God. God saw that Adam was no longer where He had placed him so he called, “Where are you?” Adam responded “I heard your voice and I was afraid…”

Back to Abraham: he was afraid because he was out of the will of God.

Let’s move on to Chapter 13

“Then Abram went up from Egypt…” (verse 1)

Praise God. Abraham came back to the track.

Vs. 1      Then Abraham went up from Egypt,

He and his wife and all that he had,

And Lot with him to the South.

Vs. 2      Abram was very rich in livestock in silver and in gold

Vs. 3      And he went on his journey, from the south as far as Bethel,

to the place where his tent had been at the beginning.

Which he had made there at first

And there Abraham called the name of the Lord.

Note that verse 2 indicates that Abraham had become richer than he was before he left for Egypt. Despite that Abraham was richer in material things, he was spiritually bankrupt. He was rich in cattle, silver and gold but spiritually poor and empty. He had to go back to where he last encountered God.

He retraced his steps to the place where he met with God last:

And he went on his journey, from the south as far as Bethel,

to the place where his tent had been at the beginning.

Which he had made there at first

And there Abraham called the name of the Lord.

                                                                                                                                                (Verse 3).

This is a powerful truth we should learn as believers.

In II Kings chapter 6, when one of the sons of prophets lost the borrowed axe-head into the water, he cried out to Elisha for help. Elisha asked him a question that we must all answer if we want revival and restoration in our lives:

Where did it fall?

 (II Kings 6:6)

Where did your passion for the things of God fall? Where did your obedience fall? Our ability to trace our steps back to where our passion fell out, or where we lost burden for the call of God is the beginning of restoration.

Please note that the anointing was available to bring out the axe-head and Elisha was willing but it was the responsibility of that son of the prophet to identify and pinpoint where it fell. Until you are able to answer this question you will not be able to move forward in your spiritual journey.

You must commit yourself to revisit the last revelation God gave you. You must commit yourself to obey the last instruction God gave you. Abraham was able to trace his steps back to the last altar he raised to the Lord. That is how revival, restoration and season of refreshing come to us.

This is also the prescription that Jesus gave to the Church in Ephesus.

…remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works

Revelations 2:5

Are you in Egypt? Have you returned to bondage of sin? Are you trying to get hold of the grace of God once again? Have you lost your passion and burden for the things of God? It is time to return.

Now return to your first love. Return to where you have fallen. Trace your steps back to “Bethel”…the house of God. Find out where the axe-head of prayer, fasting, studying, giving and witnessing fell off and go back there. That is your point of revival.

Go back to the last altar you built and you will see that God has been waiting for you all this while.  When you get there, call on the name of the Lord and you shall be saved (Joel 2:32) and be sure that God will never cast you away.

Remember that the son of the prophet had to show Elisha where this took place.  We must be completely honest with The Lord and show him where we lost our effectiveness and our experience of His power in our life.  Have you failed The Lord?  Have you lost your head and flown off the handle?  If so, where did it fall?  Find the place.  Tell The Lord.  You will never recover your axe head until you tell Him where (and how) you lost it.

It doesn’t end there.  The man had to put out his hand and recover the axe head as it swam to the surface.  Likewise, we must reach out in faith and accept what God is recovering in our own lives.

I see your axe-head floating and I see you grabbing it and advancing in the kingdom. I see you picking up the baton once again and running your race with grace.

Shalom.