Keion Henderson - From Affliction to Abundance

Genesis chapter 13: we are starting a series today, and for the next several weeks, the name of this series will be „When Others Make Your Life Difficult.“ How many of you can relate to the young lady who was getting baptized? She said, „I forgive those who broke me; I also forgive myself.“ Over the next several weeks, I’m going to talk to you about how to overcome being a victim of a crime. Is there anyone innocent who has felt wronged? Like, I’ve done something to some people, but I didn’t do anything to that one person, and I was hurt by them. For the next several weeks, we’re going to discuss how to deal with people who make your life difficult. I want to thank Pastor Torrance for baptizing; we need to baptize him. He didn’t want to meet; he’s crazy! But my wife said something wise: „You know, I love what he’s doing. That 's the joy of the Lord. We ought to be in church and be able to laugh and have fun in our service .“ He’s a comedian! We go from laughing at him to crying, and when the dance was up here, it showcased that dichotomy. It 's amazing that it happened that way because life is similar; you could be laughing on Monday. I mean, you leave church on fire some Sundays, ready to take on the world, ranting at a negative person, and it just dissipates.

Today we’re going to discuss the contentious relationship between Abraham and Lot. Something happened that isn’t often preached about. I want you to turn to Genesis 13, verse 5. Remember, I told you a couple of weeks ago that Lot’s father and grandfather died, and Abraham took him in. Abraham took him in when he didn’t have anything, coaching him from being an unbeliever to becoming a believer. He was poor and raggedy, and then Abraham lifted him up, making him rich. It 's amazing that, in our text, Lot turns on the very person who helped him. The Bible says in chapter 13, verse 5, that Lot went with Abraham and had flocks, herds, and tents, and the land was not able to support them both. Their substance was too great. In other words, Lot was almost as rich as Abraham. It 's almost like a gang war: Lot and Abraham became so big, and now Lot is turning on the very person who helped him.

While they’re arguing, look at verse 7 because the Bible says this will be key to the sermon. While they’re arguing, the Canaanites and the Perizzites are watching. You’ve got to understand that nobody wins when a family feuds. While you are arguing with each other, the enemy is watching you, saying, „Well, while the husband and wife are arguing, I’m going to go get the son.“ Are you all with me today? Verse 8: Abraham said to Lot, „Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are family. Aren’t we supposed to be? Is not the whole land before us? Separate yourself. I pray thee from me. I know I brought you this far, but nobody said we have to keep going together.“ I want you to stop feeling bad when you tell people they need to get off here. It says right here in the text, „Separate yourself. I pray thee from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go right; or if you go right, I will go left.“ He didn’t even say, „You go left; I’ll go right.“ He just said, „Whatever direction you go, I’m going in the opposite.“ Lord, help me in this church today.

I want to talk about going from affliction to abundance. I want you to give everybody a high five on your way down and say, „This is the year for you to go from affliction to abundance.“ You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Lest I hold you too long, the Bible lets us know that in our last text, we talked about this two weeks ago. How many of you remember when I said that Abraham left Canaan because of a famine in the land? He left and went to Egypt seeking prosperity but leaving where God called him to be, which almost cost him his wife. When he got to Egypt, the Bible says that Pharaoh took notice of his wife and decided, „You know what? She looks like she needs to be in my harem of concubines.“ To protect his wife, Abraham made a deal with her to pretend she was his sister. As she pretended, his relationship was nearly salvaged, but not entirely, because Sarah was invited to Pharaoh’s house, which initiated a form of marital bliss. Somehow, God made a way for it not to happen. We thank God for the grace that sometimes allows us to make a bad decision and still come out all right. If I had anyone here who was honest and upfront, even though we’re not at the end of the sermon…