Fairhaven Shorts 2-25-2024

Transformation Through Faith - The Story of Lawrence of Arabia

The Bible does not tell us, by the way, a whole lot about Abram's background, other than to say that he was from Ur of the Chaldees. Ur was, back in those days, about 200 miles southeast of where Baghdad is today. So imagine this. When God called Abram, Abram left everything he knew, his homeland, his culture, his extended family, traveled northwest following the River Euphrates, through Babylon, which is modern day Iraq, then through Syria, and then turning southwest through Damascus and Hebron and then Bethel near the Dead Sea.

Total distance of about 2,200 miles that Abram walked with his family and his herds of animals. That's a distance from about New York City to Tempe, Arizona.

Abrahams Journey of Faith and Promise

My mind is the old movie Lawrence of Arabia. Yes, I know I'm dating myself. But the movie was based on the life of a real person whose last name was Lawrence, who was born and raised in England and joined the army in 1914. And he was stationed in Arabia during the First World War.

And he worked alongside both Brits and Arabs. But over time, he became close friends with the Arab and basically ended up sort of going native. And there's a point in the movie, which if you've seen this, you know what I'm talking about. Lawrence has been given Arabian clothes to wear.

And he puts on this turban that has long flowing in the back and baggy white pants like the guys over there wear because they need a lot of air. So it's very hot over there. And this this lightweight white Abaya robe over top. And he's by himself when he's doing all this.

But he walks around in these new clothes like this with the wind blowing through them. And you can almost see him changing from a Brit into an Arab. He's a new man with new loyalties, and he will never again be completely comfortable being British.