In Genesis
twelve, God made this promise to Abraham: “I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing… all
the peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Verses 1-3).
Several
years later, God renewed his promise to bless Abraham and then said something
that changed everything. Abraham was
told that his wife Sarah was going to have a son and that the promise would be
fulfilled through him.
When
Abraham heard that, he laughed and thought, “Will a son be born to a man a
hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a
child at the age of ninety?” (Genesis 17:17)
In his mind, that plan was simply ridiculous, so he suggested something more
logical: “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” (Verse 18). Do you see what he is saying? Ishmael was one of Abraham’s other sons. Essentially he was saying to God, “I know you
will bless me, but it has to be through the son that I already have. I cannot believe that at my old age I will
have another son, so you better just use this one because that makes more
sense”.
I love the
answer he gets back. God said, “Your
wife Sarah will bear you a son” (Verse 19).
In other words, “I have told you what I am going to do and that is
exactly what is going to happen”.
A year
later, Abraham and Sarah were changing diapers!
Here is the
thing: Abraham never doubted the
promise, but he did doubt the process.
He never questioned whether God would bless him or not, he just thought
that it had to be in a way that made sense to him.
It is easy
to believe the big promises. Most people
believe that things like salvation, heaven and forgiveness exist. However, to believe that God is at work in
the process of getting those things to me (or me to them) is another
matter. I want to know the “how”. If I don’t see the way, then I am usually tempted
to take control and “force” God’s blessing in a way that makes sense to me
(“Use Ishmael”).
Abraham and
Sarah learned a great lesson: If God made the promise; he will work out the
process.
It may be
in ways we never expected, but God will lead if we let him.
“Trust God
from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one
who will keep you on track” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
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