Genesis chapter 13, look at verse 1,
And Abraham went out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
Verse 2, And Abram was very rich in cattle, and silver, and gold, and he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel,
unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Haai,
unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first.
And there Abram called upon the name of the LORD.
Verse 5,
And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together,
for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
So, the LORD has blessed them so much at this point, that when they're coming up out of Egypt,
and going back to Bethel, that they have so much abundance of wealth,
that the land there, literally, there's just not enough room for them.
You know, it's like when the house guest comes from out of town,
you know, they bring all their stuff, and they're there for weeks on end.
You know, eventually the walls get a little smaller, and smaller, and smaller.
You know, you can kind of feel that strife building up.
Well, what happens here?
It says in verse 6, And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together,
for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
And there was, verse 7, And there was strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle,
and the herdmen of Lot's cattle.
And the Canaanite and the Perizzites dwelled then in the land.
So eventually, it comes to a head, where there's just too much strife.
You know, these guys want to bring their cattle to graze here,
they want to bring their cattle to graze in the same spot.
They're just, they're running into each other,
they're having a hard time coexisting with one another.
So what is it? What is the result?
They start to have strife. There's contention.
And how do they solve the situation? Well, let's look at verse 8.
And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife.
So Abram was the kind of guy, you know, he wasn't into strife.
Like some people. Some people, they go out of their way looking for it.
Not Abram. He says, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee,
and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren.
I mean, isn't that a great application right there?
I mean, if we're going to dwell with one another in the local church,
if we're going to have the unity and the spirit,
you know, if we're going to be one here as a body that's going to be effective,
we don't want strife to come into our church and separate us.
So what does he do here?
He says, I pray thee between me and thee,
and between thy herdmen and my herdmen, for we be brethren.
Verse 9, is not the whole land before thee?
Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me.
He says, Go, go.
If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right.
Or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
Sometimes we're involved with people who just want to stir up strife.
They're just looking to draw you in, into that strife.
The only reason they're stirring up strife, they're just, you know, what's it saying?
They're drama mamas, right?
They just want to bring you into strife because that's just what they're into.
They like strife. They like the drama.
And it just spices up their life.
And sometimes if you try to contend with them over something,
they're just glad that you're contending.
That's exactly what they want out of you.
They want strife.
And Abraham, he had the right answer.
It's time to just separate.
It's time for us to just go our separate ways.
You know, you need to go to the left, and I'll go to the right, or vice versa.