When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers. You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” (Genesis 17:1-2, 4-5, 15–17, NIV 1984).
My Musings – This was not the first time that Abraham had heard such words from God. “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.” (Genesis 13:14–16, NIV 1984). And then again, “a son coming from your own body will be your heir. Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:4-6, NIV 1984).
“Abram believed.” Then many years passed and still no son. By then, “Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.” (Genesis 18:11, NIV 1984). So, Abraham’s belief turned to disbelief. “He laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?‘” But he wasn’t the only one laughing. “Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?'” (Genesis 18:12, NIV 1984).
The fact is Abraham and Sarah’s disbelief began many years earlier. “[Sarah] said to Abram, ‘The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.’ Abram agreed to what Sarai said.” (Genesis 16:2, NIV 1984). Typical human nature. When God seems to be slow in delivering on His promises, or our prayer requests, we tend to want to help God out. So, let’s not be too hard on Abraham and Sarah. That’s God job.
Their act of unfaithfulness did not prevent God from being faithful to His promise. “Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.” (Genesis 21:1–3, NIV 1984). And their laughter of disbelief turned into laughter of joy. “God has brought [us] laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with [us].” (Genesis 21:6, NIV 1984).
Abraham only lived to see two sons. Not a nation or, even a clan. Certainly not “many nations.” Two sons are nowhere near “like the dust of the earth,” or “the [countless] stars.” He owned a cave t0 be buried in. A far cry from “all the land that you see ” from the “north and south, east and west.” Even so, despite his lapse of laughter, Abraham was still “living by faith when [He] died. [He] did not receive the things promised; [He] only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” (Hebrews 11:13, NIV 1984). “Because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so, from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:11–12, NIV 1984).
My Advice – Don’t give up on God. Don’t try to give Him “help” He does not need. Be patient. God will work things out in your life “at the very time [He] had” intended.
The Brew Is A Musing 