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The Problem With A Promise
Abraham and Sarah began a pilgrimage of hope when they left Haran. About all that Abraham had was a promise (Genesis 12:1-4a), a promise that the God who called him would make of him a great nation, that God would bless him, that God would make his name great, and Abraham himself would be a blessing.
But you can't be made into a great nation without descendants and you can't have descendants without having children, and Sarah was barren, and all this childless couple have is a promise that looks impossible. They have a promise that God will make of them a great nation. If they had told us about it we would have thought: "They must have misunderstood. God must not have been speaking literally. After all, Sarah is too old. This just can’t happen. Maybe Abraham should take another wife, adopt, some how intervene. God just isn’t making sense here.
But God did promise an heir to Abraham and he meant it. But how can you trust in a promise when the evidence against its being kept is all around you? That's Abraham's dilemma - and the same problem is often ours. Abraham has nothing in writing, no proof, no guarantee. Now his test of faith really begins. Now Abraham must decide if God is God, if his Word is good, if - after all this time - in spite of the evidence to the contrary, if he can count on this promise. And Abraham believed! No wonder he is called the "father of faith!"
Abraham decides that God, not the circumstances, make the promise believable. He decided that the same God who makes stars can also make a son for an old, barren, childless couple. Abraham didn't decide to believe because he felt new life in his loins, nor because Sarah came and told him she was experiencing morning sickness, nor because a new fertility drug for older women had just been approved by the FDA. He simply believed he could rely on the promise of the Promise-Maker.
God has given us promises, too - thousands of them - in his Word. God promised: "Come to me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I came and he did. He said, "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from unrighteousness." I did and he did. Jesus promised, "I will send the Holy Spirit upon you." He did. He said, "The Lord will give peace to his people." I have found that he does. The Word promises, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." It's true, he does. He promised, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." It's a fact. He assured us, "Lo, I am with you always." He is."
There has never been nor ever will be one of God's promises that will fail. So, as people of faith, we make the assumption that because of who the promiser is - none other than God himself - that we can believe it. Abraham made the basic assumption that God was God, that his Word was enough, and that assumption became an unshakable assurance. Helmut Thielicke said, "Taking God seriously means taking him at his Word and giving him the chance to act the way he has said he will act."
The Promise Delayed
We are not accustomed to waiting. We don't like to wait on the phone, we resent being put on "hold," we'd rather not wait in a long line, we don't want to wait for a diet to show its effect, we don't like to wait our turn. We are a fast-food, fast-service, fast-car/plane/boat people and are impatient when we have to wait. We now have fast, drive-through viewing for the dead so we don't have to wait. "Well, I'm not going to wait any longer," is a phrase you hear nearly every day of your life. So, when we deal with the promises of God we are equally impatient and are prone to conclude if the answer is not given now, it never will be.
But a promise is a gift, a grace from God, and gifts cannot be forced nor hurried. Our futures stay in the hand of the God who gives them. We are uncomfortable with that.
We cry, "O Lord, how long?" How long until I am well again, how long until my children are saved, how long until my marriage gets better, how long until you find me a job/husband/wife/house? And that's the test of our faith, just as it was for Abraham.
We run by clocks and calendars, by schedules and timetables, so we assume God does, too. And we want him to tell us when, what time, what day, what year - forgetting that God does not limit himself to our puny plans and schedules. He has eternity and our days and minutes and years are not binding to him. Of course we argue and say, "But God, if you don't do it now, or by Tuesday, or next year, it will be too late." But that is putting human limitations upon God, saying, "He can't fix it," except in our time frame.
The Promises Are Worth Waiting For
Let us never forget: the promises of God are worth waiting for! This text makes us ask two large questions: Can Abraham trust? Can God be trusted? The answer in both cases is a resounding "Yes!" God put flesh on his word and gave Abraham a son. He had to wait for it - he was 75 years old when he first got the promise (Genesis 12) in Haran. Now, 25 years later, when he is a centenarian, the promise is fulfilled and Isaac is born.
God is always doing such things with his promises. God finally put flesh on his Word, and the promise was fulfilled, centuries later, when God gave the world Jesus. He always is true to his Word.
So, when Christ says, "I will come again," I believe it. No matter how long it is until it happens, I still believe in the second coming. He said, "I will go and prepare a place for you, that where I am, ye may be also." No matter when I die, I firmly believe I have a home in heaven waiting for me.
The Problem Is Not In The Promise-Maker, But Receiver
We can indeed trust in God’s promises. That is why we join again in partaking of the juice and the bread. We stand on the promises of God’s amazing grace that is offered to us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is why we can so lustily and confidently sing the lines of the familiar song, "Standing on the promises that cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living Word of God, I shall prevail; Standing on the promises of God!"
Abraham and Sarah began a pilgrimage of hope when they left Haran. About all that Abraham had was a promise (Genesis 12:1-4a), a promise that the God who called him would make of him a great nation, that God would bless him, that God would make his name great, and Abraham himself would be a blessing.
But you can't be made into a great nation without descendants and you can't have descendants without having children, and Sarah was barren, and all this childless couple have is a promise that looks impossible. They have a promise that God will make of them a great nation. If they had told us about it we would have thought: "They must have misunderstood. God must not have been speaking literally. After all, Sarah is too old. This just can’t happen. Maybe Abraham should take another wife, adopt, some how intervene. God just isn’t making sense here.
But God did promise an heir to Abraham and he meant it. But how can you trust in a promise when the evidence against its being kept is all around you? That's Abraham's dilemma - and the same problem is often ours. Abraham has nothing in writing, no proof, no guarantee. Now his test of faith really begins. Now Abraham must decide if God is God, if his Word is good, if - after all this time - in spite of the evidence to the contrary, if he can count on this promise. And Abraham believed! No wonder he is called the "father of faith!"
Abraham decides that God, not the circumstances, make the promise believable. He decided that the same God who makes stars can also make a son for an old, barren, childless couple. Abraham didn't decide to believe because he felt new life in his loins, nor because Sarah came and told him she was experiencing morning sickness, nor because a new fertility drug for older women had just been approved by the FDA. He simply believed he could rely on the promise of the Promise-Maker.
God has given us promises, too - thousands of them - in his Word. God promised: "Come to me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I came and he did. He said, "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from unrighteousness." I did and he did. Jesus promised, "I will send the Holy Spirit upon you." He did. He said, "The Lord will give peace to his people." I have found that he does. The Word promises, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." It's true, he does. He promised, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." It's a fact. He assured us, "Lo, I am with you always." He is."
There has never been nor ever will be one of God's promises that will fail. So, as people of faith, we make the assumption that because of who the promiser is - none other than God himself - that we can believe it. Abraham made the basic assumption that God was God, that his Word was enough, and that assumption became an unshakable assurance. Helmut Thielicke said, "Taking God seriously means taking him at his Word and giving him the chance to act the way he has said he will act."
The Promise Delayed
We are not accustomed to waiting. We don't like to wait on the phone, we resent being put on "hold," we'd rather not wait in a long line, we don't want to wait for a diet to show its effect, we don't like to wait our turn. We are a fast-food, fast-service, fast-car/plane/boat people and are impatient when we have to wait. We now have fast, drive-through viewing for the dead so we don't have to wait. "Well, I'm not going to wait any longer," is a phrase you hear nearly every day of your life. So, when we deal with the promises of God we are equally impatient and are prone to conclude if the answer is not given now, it never will be.
But a promise is a gift, a grace from God, and gifts cannot be forced nor hurried. Our futures stay in the hand of the God who gives them. We are uncomfortable with that.
We cry, "O Lord, how long?" How long until I am well again, how long until my children are saved, how long until my marriage gets better, how long until you find me a job/husband/wife/house? And that's the test of our faith, just as it was for Abraham.
We run by clocks and calendars, by schedules and timetables, so we assume God does, too. And we want him to tell us when, what time, what day, what year - forgetting that God does not limit himself to our puny plans and schedules. He has eternity and our days and minutes and years are not binding to him. Of course we argue and say, "But God, if you don't do it now, or by Tuesday, or next year, it will be too late." But that is putting human limitations upon God, saying, "He can't fix it," except in our time frame.
The Promises Are Worth Waiting For
Let us never forget: the promises of God are worth waiting for! This text makes us ask two large questions: Can Abraham trust? Can God be trusted? The answer in both cases is a resounding "Yes!" God put flesh on his word and gave Abraham a son. He had to wait for it - he was 75 years old when he first got the promise (Genesis 12) in Haran. Now, 25 years later, when he is a centenarian, the promise is fulfilled and Isaac is born.
God is always doing such things with his promises. God finally put flesh on his Word, and the promise was fulfilled, centuries later, when God gave the world Jesus. He always is true to his Word.
So, when Christ says, "I will come again," I believe it. No matter how long it is until it happens, I still believe in the second coming. He said, "I will go and prepare a place for you, that where I am, ye may be also." No matter when I die, I firmly believe I have a home in heaven waiting for me.
The Problem Is Not In The Promise-Maker, But Receiver
We can indeed trust in God’s promises. That is why we join again in partaking of the juice and the bread. We stand on the promises of God’s amazing grace that is offered to us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is why we can so lustily and confidently sing the lines of the familiar song, "Standing on the promises that cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living Word of God, I shall prevail; Standing on the promises of God!"
