Despite God’s judgment of sin with the flood, as the family lines were created, people still chose to sin and ignore God except for a handful of people who really tried to follow God, which leads us to Abram.
Abram was in a time of transition. After his father passed, he moved to Canaan. At this point he was in a transition time waiting for God to tell him what was to happen next. God will put us in times of transition where we are to seek Him and learn to trust Him, and by doing this and following His will, when He calls on us, we will be ready. God called on Abram and told him to leave what he knew and God would bless him and make him a great nation, and Abram himself will be a blessing. And in Abram, all the families of the earth will be blessed, anyone who curses Abram will be cursed themselves and those who bless Abram will be blessed themselves. Abram chose to step out in faith, leave the comfort of his home and family and trust in God. This is easier said than done, but when we step out in faith, God sees it and He helps us every step of the way.
Abram took his wife, nephew, and the people who chose to follow to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through Canaan to the small town of Shechem. The Canaanites were there, but God told Abram that his descendants will be given this land from God, and there Abram built an alter to the Lord. Then he moved to the mountains east of Bethel and put an altar there as well; then kept journeying south.
Alters were used in many religions, but for God’s people it had a different meaning. They were more than just a place for sacrifices. For God’s people it was a place that symbolized communion with God and was a place people could have encounters with Him. They were built of rough stones and earth, and would remain in place for years as reminders of God’s protection and promises. Regular worship reminds us of God’s desires and helps us to obey Him.
After this point there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt. This was seen as a test, God moved Abram to a land that was then hit with a famine, but Abram passed the test and didn't question Gods plan for him. Instead he used the intelligence God gave him and waited in Egypt for the famine to leave. However, Abram lost faith for a moment and out of fear made Sarai, his wife, lie to the pharaoh about who Abram was to her. Abram thought they would kill him so they could have his wife because she was so beautiful, so instead of trusting in God he acted out of fear and lied, saying it was his sister. So Pharaoh took Sarai and blessed
Abram, her “brother” with animals for food and was later shown by God who Sarai was when the famine struck there. Pharaoh knew that Sarai wasn't Abrams sister and sent them both on their way hoping God would make the famine leave them.
When Abram lied, his sins multiplied, sinning just builds up more sin. When we are tempted to operate in fear take a step back and remember how things got worse for Abram by choosing to sin rather than trust in God.