Have you ever made a promise to stick with something 100% only to cave at 98%? Clayton Christiansen, the famous Harvard Business School professor, taught that it’s easier to hold your principles 100% of the time than 98% of the time—because at 98%, you’re constantly debating whether “this time” is the exception. Abraham discovered this truth the hard way. God had called him to leave everything behind and follow Him to a new land, promising to bless him personally, nationally, and globally. Abraham packed up and obeyed, mostly. He took his nephew Lot when God said leave everyone, and when famine hit the Promised Land, he panicked and fled to Egypt without asking God. What started as faith turned into doubt, and doubt is simply forgetting God. Every time Abraham dropped from 100% trust to 98% trust, he made decisions that nearly cost him everything. It cost his integrity, his wife, and his witness. When doubt knocks at your door, let God answer. Discover three ways doubt attacks your faith, and how to let God answer every time. Understand how forgetting God happens in stages, so you can catch yourself before you lose your integrity, your peace, and your witness.

What happens when you trust the wrong guide? While driving through northwest Indiana, a man named Iftikhar Hussain drove off a ramp to a bridge that no longer existed, killing his wife Zohra. Police believe he ignored numerous barricades including orange barrels, cones, large “Road Closed” signs, and concrete barriers, all because he was listening too closely to his GPS. His wife died not because a bridge was out but because her husband made the wrong decision. The story is a heartbreaking picture of what life is really about. The force of your life and the course of your life are defined by your decisions. You are where you are, who you are, and what you are right now because of your decisions. Dr. Seuss said it best: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” In Genesis 13, we meet Abraham’s nephew Lot, whose name fits perfectly. He had a choice between two lots of land and chose the wrong lot, and it cost him a whole lot. The story teaches us about pre-decisions, meaning those decisions you make before you make “the decision.” When you make good pre-decisions, you’ll stick to your convictions instead of caving to your circumstances. See how your problems reveal your priorities, your priorities drive your decisions, and your daily practices determine where those choices take you.

Who were Jesus’ favorite Old Testament heroes? If you guessed Moses, you’d be right—Jesus mentioned him 25 times. But number two might surprise you. Abraham, referenced 17 times, appears in Jesus’ teaching nearly as often. Why did Jesus love talking about this man? Because Abraham shows us a relationship with God that doesn’t start with our searching for Him, but with His grace finding us. Three thousand years before Jesus walked the earth, God spoke to a 75-year-old idol worshiper living in present-day Iraq and gave one command: “Go.” Abraham didn’t know where he was going, why he was going, or what would happen when he got there. But he knew who was telling him to go, and that was enough. Every time you trust God’s word and obey His will, you discover what Abraham learned—that when you walk with God, He shows you things you could never see standing still. Learn the three steps that take you from where you are to where God wants you to be.