A Story of God and All of Us - By Roma Downey Page 0,5

water and wrings it out, then opens Lemuel's tunic and swabs a gash in his side. As Lemuel winces with pain, he does not turn away from Abram. "You are our only hope," says the shepherd.

Later that night, Abram holds a council in his tent with Sarai and the families that came with him in search of their new home. The subject is war. "We will fight. We have many trained men among us," Abram tells the gathering.

"But Abram, my beloved," Sarai interrupts anxiously, "you are hardly soldiers."

"It doesn't matter. I made Lot come with us. I told him to trust in God."

"But Lot and his wife had their pick of the land. It was their choice to leave!"

Abram's mind is already made up. "They are family," he tells Sarai. "We have to help them."

The wife of Amasa, the combative shepherd, shakes her head. She is about to speak, to tell Abram that rescuing Lot would be folly. But before she can say a word, Amasa places a finger to her lips. He then stands and walks to Abram's side. The other men join him.

"We will return," Abram promises Sarai. He glances around at his brave men as they quickly prepare for battle and say good-bye to their families, not knowing if they will ever come back. Sarai is anxious and wraps her arms tightly around Abram's waist. She has tears in her eyes.

"I love you," she says.

Abram pulls away without saying a word. His love for Sarai is understood.

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He is a solid man and a good husband. Abram reaches for his sword, whose sharpened blade gleams in the firelight. He holds the sword aloft to examine it for signs of weakness. His fists are strong and his forearms powerful.

Seeing no imperfections in the sword, he slides it into his belt. "God will take care of us," he assures his wife.

There is power in his words, and the confidence in Abram's eyes makes Sarai's heart swell with pride, despite her fear. She places her hand softly on his face and pulls her to him. She kisses him desperately, knowing that this might be the last time.

Abram looks deeply into her eyes, then pulls away and steps out into the night. There's no time to waste.

Abram and his ragtag army creep carefully toward the enemy encampment.

There would be guards posted if this was wartime, and the cooking fires would have long ago been extinguished. But these soldiers have just routed their foes, sending them fleeing into the hills and tumbling into the Valley of Siddim's tar pits. This is a time to make merry. They sit around their fires laughing and drinking. The prisoners they have elected not to kill sit in a circle on the ground, hands tied behind their backs. Lot's wife is being prodded with a spear by their guard. She cries out in pain, which only makes the soldiers leer in delight. Their time away from home and the comforts of a woman has been long. One, perhaps many, of these men will have their way with her tonight. Lot is tied up, his mouth tightly gagged, and forced to watch these men ogle and humiliate his beloved wife. His attempts to cry out in protest are fruitless, and only amuse the guards.

Abram sees all this from the perimeter of the camp. The size of his household has grown since he followed God's orders and set off in search of a new land. His army is made up of shepherds, some 318 of them. They are hardly soldiers of war, but are all skilled with a knife or an axe from years of chasing wolves away from their flocks.

Their enemies, on the other hand, number in the thousands. They are 17

hard men, with scars and muscles earned from long days on the march and countless hours in hand-to-hand combat. These foes are trained and disciplined, and have just conquered the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their armies. Their bellies are full, and they are well rested. An attack on their camp would be suicide.

But Abram knows that his men have two things on their side: the element of surprise, and his deep faith in God.

As his men spread out along the camp's perimeter in the dead of night, Abram prays. He asks for God's blessing on their battle, and that he might have strength and confidence as he leads his brave men. As he prays, he can smell lamb being grilled on cook fires, wood smoke,