Abraham.
You know him as one of the great fathers of the faith.
THE father of the Jewish nation!
He was promised by God to have a huge family...and even that ALL people would be blessed through his decedents.
And from our vantage point in history, we know the end of his story.
But he didn't.
He had some pretty rockin' amazing promises from the God of Creation...
...that were not coming true.
Years
went
by...
And his wife Sarah was STILL not pregnant.
Genesis chapter 15 picks up mid-wait for Abraham (at this point he was still called Abram). He had recently rescued his pesky nephew Lot from enemies...and was made even richer than before. He then prays,
"O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since you've given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir." (Genesis 15:2-3)
Can you feel his emotion? Yes, he just came through a HUGE event and did some really amazing heroics. But that's not what mattered to him. He ached for that promised son.
Do you ache for something that's been promised but not yet been delivered?
Are you living in that "not yet" space?
Look at how God responds to Abram,
"No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir." Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, "Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That's how many descendants you will have!" Genesis 15:4-5
Hmmm. At this point...Abram might not have felt terribly happy to get MORE promises about this son. I think he'd have preferred a timeline. "Dear Abram, stop worrying, on Tuesday you will find out that Sarah is expecting and you'll give birth to a son on August 21st."
Yeah. I think he'd have liked that better.
I would have.
Instead, he got a HUGE VISUAL of what God continued to promise him.
Nice... I suppose...
...but that wonderful answer from God STILL did not change his circumstances.
But LOOK AT VERSE 6!!!
"And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith." Genesis 15:6
No matter how you slice it, Abram's circumstances were EXACTLY THE SAME as when he complained to the Lord a few minutes earlier. Sarah was still barren. He was still son-less.
But Abram made a CHOICE.
He chose to wait with faith. With belief in God, rather than in the presenting circumstances. He had to purposely focus his heart on the character of the God who promised rather than all the evidence around him that said he'd never get that promised child.
He wasn't getting any younger, you know.
I was listening to a friend talk about this last night at church. I wrote on my notepad, "How do I want my verse 6 to read? 'Amy balked again at God's promise to her,' OR 'Amy believed the Lord and it was credited to her as righteousness?'"
When I woke this morning to have my time in God's Word, I headed right back to Genesis 15:6.
Staring at it, I wondered if I would choose to have faith in my VERY BIG GOD or if I would look around at all the circumstances that seem to scream "that'll never happen!" and tune in to the naysayers who try to shoot holes in my heart.
Then I went on a hunt. A Bible hunt. Look what I found:
"And when God counted him [Abraham] as righteous, it wasn't just for Abraham's benefit. It was recorded for our benefit too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in Him," Romans 4:23-24
Wow.
And I've come to a decision. I'm going to go down in God's records for having faith, in spite of circumstances, in spite of people's opinions, theories, etc.
I'm going to focus my attention on the Promise Giver and choose to BELIEVE HIM.
That means my eyes MUST be focused on Him, Him, Him! Not on me, me, me or on the circumstances that threaten to prove me wrong.
Perhaps like Abraham, I must wait a lot longer for my promise to be given. But no matter when it finally comes, I want to be found waiting well.
And the rejoicing will ALL BE MINE!!! My God always keeps His promises!!
You know him as one of the great fathers of the faith.
THE father of the Jewish nation!
He was promised by God to have a huge family...and even that ALL people would be blessed through his decedents.
And from our vantage point in history, we know the end of his story.
But he didn't.
He had some pretty rockin' amazing promises from the God of Creation...
...that were not coming true.
Years
went
by...
And his wife Sarah was STILL not pregnant.
Genesis chapter 15 picks up mid-wait for Abraham (at this point he was still called Abram). He had recently rescued his pesky nephew Lot from enemies...and was made even richer than before. He then prays,
"O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since you've given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir." (Genesis 15:2-3)
Can you feel his emotion? Yes, he just came through a HUGE event and did some really amazing heroics. But that's not what mattered to him. He ached for that promised son.
Do you ache for something that's been promised but not yet been delivered?
Are you living in that "not yet" space?
Look at how God responds to Abram,
"No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir." Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, "Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That's how many descendants you will have!" Genesis 15:4-5
Hmmm. At this point...Abram might not have felt terribly happy to get MORE promises about this son. I think he'd have preferred a timeline. "Dear Abram, stop worrying, on Tuesday you will find out that Sarah is expecting and you'll give birth to a son on August 21st."
Yeah. I think he'd have liked that better.
I would have.
Instead, he got a HUGE VISUAL of what God continued to promise him.
Nice... I suppose...
...but that wonderful answer from God STILL did not change his circumstances.
But LOOK AT VERSE 6!!!
"And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith." Genesis 15:6
No matter how you slice it, Abram's circumstances were EXACTLY THE SAME as when he complained to the Lord a few minutes earlier. Sarah was still barren. He was still son-less.
But Abram made a CHOICE.
He chose to wait with faith. With belief in God, rather than in the presenting circumstances. He had to purposely focus his heart on the character of the God who promised rather than all the evidence around him that said he'd never get that promised child.
He wasn't getting any younger, you know.
I was listening to a friend talk about this last night at church. I wrote on my notepad, "How do I want my verse 6 to read? 'Amy balked again at God's promise to her,' OR 'Amy believed the Lord and it was credited to her as righteousness?'"
When I woke this morning to have my time in God's Word, I headed right back to Genesis 15:6.
Staring at it, I wondered if I would choose to have faith in my VERY BIG GOD or if I would look around at all the circumstances that seem to scream "that'll never happen!" and tune in to the naysayers who try to shoot holes in my heart.
Then I went on a hunt. A Bible hunt. Look what I found:
"And when God counted him [Abraham] as righteous, it wasn't just for Abraham's benefit. It was recorded for our benefit too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in Him," Romans 4:23-24
Wow.
And I've come to a decision. I'm going to go down in God's records for having faith, in spite of circumstances, in spite of people's opinions, theories, etc.
I'm going to focus my attention on the Promise Giver and choose to BELIEVE HIM.
That means my eyes MUST be focused on Him, Him, Him! Not on me, me, me or on the circumstances that threaten to prove me wrong.
Perhaps like Abraham, I must wait a lot longer for my promise to be given. But no matter when it finally comes, I want to be found waiting well.
...with a heart that says, "Yep! I KNEW it!!"
And the rejoicing will ALL BE MINE!!! My God always keeps His promises!!
"The Lord always keeps His promises; He is gracious in all He does."
Psalm 145:13
No comments:
Post a Comment