The Lodestar

Why did Abraham live in tents? Anthropologically, it’s because he was a semi-nomad. In anthropological terms, a semi-nomad tends small animals like sheep, moves around settled civilisations living in villages and towns, grows short-term crops like cereals and keeps moving from one point to another along semi-arid land.

However, there is also a spiritual dimension: Abraham’s decision to live in tents was driven by his faith in the One God rather than merely by his instincts and the circumstances of his time. Abraham, his son, and his grandson lived in tents, hoping to find a permanent place elsewhere. They were only sojourning or passing through, though there were villages where they could have settled in permanent dwellings.

Thus, Abraham represents another aspect of faith: an unending pursuit of the certain, even if it remains unknown.

That is how Abraham’s faith became worth mentioning in the “heroes of faith”; he was willing to wait for the eternal and not willing to settle for what was immediate that would pass.

We may all struggle with patience while waiting for God to fulfil his plans for us. Yet enduring those temporary inconveniences makes patient waiting worthwhile.

Today, resist the urge to settle for comfort when God is calling you to journey in faith. Like Abraham, embrace the “tent life”—a posture of trust, mobility, and expectation. Ask yourself: Where am I tempted to build permanence where God invites pilgrimage? Whether it’s a decision, a relationship, or a dream, surrender the need for immediate certainty. Journal one area where you’re waiting on God, and pray for the grace to remain faithful in the temporary, trusting that the eternal is worth the wait.

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