Genesis 14:22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth.
Yesterday my wife and I were talking about things we needed to move out of our house. We are getting crowded. Our kids are getting older, and each of them have more things that we are cramming into our house. I love my house, but the closets are no longer sufficiently big enough to hold all that we want to hold. We all have stuff, and many times life is dictated by the things that we possess. Many times we think we own things when really our things own us.
When you get to Genesis 13, you find a story of Abraham, a man of great possession and faith, who is largely dictated to by his possessions. If you look at Genesis 13-14, over and again you find this idea of great possessions that were stolen and then regained. It’s all about possessions, possessions, possessions. Genesis 13:1 says, “And Abraham went up out of Egypt…and all that he had… and Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.” They did not use coinage the way we do now, but he did have silver and gold and a lot of animals, which in that day greatly determined one’s wealth.
Abraham and Lot, Abraham’s nephew, had so many possessions as they came out of Egypt that they decided to part ways. They had gone to Egypt in fear of famine, but when they left they had even more possessions than when they arrived. Pharaoh had given Abraham many possessions when Abraham left Egypt.
After Lot went his own way, there was a conquering army that took Lot and his possessions captive. Genesis 14:14 says, “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.” So you have Abraham the warrior. He wasn’t just an old, tottering man. He had over three hundred armed servants trained from birth who knew how to fight. We suppose Abraham had many more servants than these, including the families of these trained servants.
Long story short, Abraham prevailed and rescued the possessions and people. Verse 21 says, “And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.” Abram could have everything he recovered except for the people. Abram had a very interesting answer. Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth.” In other words, Abram said, “I’ve got all these herds; they belong to God. Everything belongs to God. God is the high God, the Possessor of heaven and earth. I’ve decided that I will not take anything from you that would cause you to say that you have made me rich.” Were there other kings that could have said they made Abram rich? Yes, there was Pharaoh, but Abram learned from that experience.
The point is you will never live a life of faith until you acknowledge that God owns it all. How can you live by faith if you think it’s your time, your money, your family, your ministry, and your job? You think you own it and are generous when you give a little bit to God. The Bible mentions a tithe that Abram had made, but it is not as if Abram generously gave God ten percent. No! God owns it all. Abram just acknowledged that.
Sometimes, we think that we own even our time. Maybe someone shows up at your doorstep unannounced. They need your time and help, and you get cranky because you think, “I have an agenda for this day. This is my day and you are meddling in my time.” Well, this is not my time. It is God’s time.
How about your money? When you realize it’s not your money, but it’s God’s money, you can live by faith. How can you live by faith if you own it all anyway? If you own it all, then you are trusting yourself. If God owns it all, then trust Him. You don’t even know the future, but God does. He is the Creator; you are the creature.
What a wonderful relief to realize that God owns it all, to say to God, “This is Your way, Your family, Your job, Your money. God, I am Your person and these are Your problems.” I’m not suggesting you be cavalier. I’m simply saying that you don’t have to own the problems when you don’t own the possessions. When God owns everything, you can trust Him for what you cannot provide.
So, practically speaking, what do you own that God does not? Is it your future, your family, your plans, your money, your aspirations? Let me urge you to learn, as Abram did, that you will never live a life of faith until you acknowledge that God owns it all because indeed He does.