Posts
It appears one of the biggest frustrations with waiting is
how long things seem to take. How long is too long to wait for a promotion, for
recognition, for a plane, for a relationship, for the light to turn green on
our evening commute? Whether we recognize it or not, waiting is a constant in
our lives. At any given moment we’re all
waiting for something or someone.
Waiting patiently is hard, especially in a culture with a
microwave mentality. We demand
immediacy, in everything from meals to work to traffic to relationships. We want what we want and we want it
yesterday. In this climate of instant gratification, we can easily feel as if
we’ve been waiting forever for something, even if it’s only been a short time.
Like Abram we can get pretty tired of waiting for that
something to happen. Ten years after God had promised Abram that he would be
the father of many nations he was still childless and he lamented to God about
his situation. Then God told Abram, "Look up at the heavens and count the
stars—if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, "So shall your
offspring be." Now, that’s an amazing promise.
Yet, it wasn’t too long after this promise that a bewildered
Abram lapsed in faith with a little help from his wife Sarai. What’s going on, how on earth is God going to
fulfill his promise? There must be a way God, it’s been years of waiting with
no visible results. As was the custom of the day, not God inspired, Sarai
suggests a short-cut and adamantly begs her husband, “go sleep with my
handmaiden and we can build a family through her.” Maybe Abram thought, that sound good to me,
sure why not?
Sarai made her own plan that seemed good to her and plus it
was acceptable to her culture. Sound familiar?
Abram could a should a, but he didn’t. If Sarai thought Lot gave them
problems she had no idea the radical impact of her decision would have upon her
own family. They couldn’t wait and took matters into their hands. Gosh, that
sounds way too familiar.
For 13 years both of them told everybody that God blessed
their decision. The child Ishmael was the promised one, the heir apparent and
the fulfillment of God’s promise. Then something happened that rocked their
world and changed their names and lives forever.
At the age of ninety-nine God visits Abram and tells him
that He is now going to fulfill His promise. (Gen.17:1-18) Abram can’t believe
it, are you kidding me, we’re in our nineties? Abram cries out, “Oh that
Ishmael might live.” Can you hear the pain in that statement? Don’t you see God
I want this so bad, I’ve been telling everyone… Don’t you see this is how it’s
supposed to be? This looks really bad for me now.
God’s responded, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a
son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an
everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” (Gen.17:19) Aren’t you glad that despite our many failings God
faithfully fulfills His promises! They are not dependent upon us.
Waiting on the Lord is essential to growing in our faith
journey. May we learn from Abraham’s that running ahead of God and trusting our
own resources can create problems for us and those we love and we can miss
God’s best. God helps us. We need your help!
The good news is that there is
more to Abraham’s life journey than this lapse of faith that we can learn from
and apply. Join us next time for an unforgettable story of faith and sacrifice
with real life application.
