Genesis 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

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It is so easy to follow God when everything is going well. We are so prone to thank God when we get a raise, when we're feeling really good, when everything just seems to be going our way. But what about those rough spots. We have all just recently come through one of those rough spots, we called it 2020. Looking back, we can say that the best thing about 2020 is that it is now over.
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It takes very little faith to follow God when everything is going well. It is often said that the greatest life you can live is one that is in the center of God's will. But often the center of God's will can lead you to a storm. Ask the disciples about that. Often the center of God's will can lead you to a cross. Jesus life taught us that. Often the center of God's will can lead you to trials. Read the book of Acts.
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This is what we see from this verse and story in the life of Abraham. In obedience he had started out following God's will. He left his family and his homeland to go find the place that God told him his descendants would one day possess. Then there is a famine and Abraham takes a detour from God's will. He heads down to Egypt. Abraham is not the only one who made a mistake in following God's will because of a famine. Remember the book of Ruth?
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But here's the point. Whenever we take a detour in the will of God because of unpleasant circumstances it will always lead to a detour in living the ways of God. We see that in Abraham. As he approaches Egypt, he realizes that these godless people may very well take his wife from him, so he asked her to lie for him. And after leaving Egypt he brought back Hagar and we know how that turned out. A lack of following God's leading by faith will always lead to a life of disobedience and a life of not living by faith. If we are not willing to follow God's will in all of the areas of our life, we will not live by God's written will in our life. A lack of faith has consequences that are far greater than the basics of where we live, what our career path is, and where our future is headed.
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A lack of faith hinders our living an obedient Christian life. How many people make life altering decisions because of unpleasant circumstances? In our state of California many are fleeing because of the oppressive nature of our government and higher taxes for the greener pastures of lower taxes, more conservative politics, and cheaper housing. People often move because they receive a job offer. Not all of these things are necessarily wrong, but they should not be our motivation for making life changing decisions. All of our decisions should be filtered through the lens of whether it is God’s will or not.
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Everything we do should be wrapped up in God's will. Any decision we make that is based on unpleasant circumstances and not on the will of God can have unintended consequences. When we are out of God's will because of our lack of faith, we may eventually not walk in God's ways. Once we start making our decisions apart from faith, we will start living our life apart from faith.