Do you think you are an obedient person? An obedient follower of God? It is not always so easy to follow what we know to be right, even if we know that what we are doing is wrong.
At this point, Abram, not yet named Abraham, was having serious difficulties obeying God’s commands. God had asked him to do certain things, and Abram was a bit stubborn. Put yourself in Abram’s shoes: God has asked you to leave your country, your family, your house, and trust that he will show you a different land that will be your own. How many of us would be willing to do that? It might take a little prodding, and in Abram’s case, it did.
Abram left Ur with his father but stopped his journey prematurely in Canaan. Abram had trouble leaving his home behind and frankly, who wouldn’t? He delayed God’s plan for him because of his difficulty leaving what he knew behind. Luckily God would not take no for an answer. It is discussed further in Acts 7:2-4.
"And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell."
Abraham could not leave his father’s side until his death. God was merciful, permitting this disobedience and realizing the situation that Abraham was in. Think about a major change that you have made in your life: what was the impetus for this change? It often takes something major, often a very high point or very low point, for us to look in the mirror and demand a change. It was the same for Abraham: he was unable to obey God’s command until his father had passed. He realizes then that there was nothing tying him to his father’s home. God’s plan for him had never changed, but he was willing to listen at this point. God could have punished Abraham for his disobedience, but he rewards Abraham for his later obedience and his sinful confession.