Genesis 11:27-32: a reflection

27Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. 28Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees, while his father Terah was still alive. 29Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah. 30Sarai was barren. She had no child. 31Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. 32The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.

This short genealogy sets the stage for the whole story of Abraham. It introduces Terah and his sons, notes that Sarai was barren, and then records something easy to overlook. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, and Sarai, and set out from Ur to go to the land of Canaan. But, the text says, they came to Haran and settled there. They started toward Canaan, but they stopped partway and stayed.

There is a quiet lesson in that halting journey. Terah set out toward the very land God would later promise to Abram, but he did not arrive; he settled at Haran and died there. The journey toward the promise was begun but not completed. It would fall to Abram, at God's fuller call, to leave Haran and press on to the land God had for him. Terah got partway and stopped short of the destination.

It is possible to begin moving toward God's purposes and then to settle down partway, to get comfortable at a Haran and never reach the Canaan he intended. Good beginnings can quietly stall into permanent stopping places. Ask whether there is a Haran in your own life, a place where you started toward what God called you to but settled short of it. Do not mistake the waystation for the destination. When God calls you onward, be willing, like Abram, to leave Haran and go the rest of the way.

Lord, Terah set out toward the land of promise but stopped short and settled at Haran. Show me where I have settled partway toward what you called me to, mistaking a waystation for the destination. When you call me onward, give me the willingness to leave my Haran and press on, so that I do not stop short of all you have for me. Amen.