06.15.2023 Father Abraham's Trust

We call Abraham “father” not because he got God’s attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn’t that what we’ve always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, “I set you up as father of many peoples”? Abraham was first named “father” and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, “You’re going to have a big family, Abraham!”

Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.” Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up. He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That’s why it is said, “Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right.” But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God.

Why was Abraham so hopeful? Are you hopeful for the same reason? Listening to the media, the 'experts' on any topic will render us hopeless and incapable of almost everything IF we believe their truths. Today's text gives us the key to Abraham's hopefulness. He didn't focus on his limitations due to age or lack of historical failures, nor did he focus on Sarah's inabilities. Abraham focused on the promise of God. A promise that he longed for, not because of his abilities but because of Creator God's unlimited abilities, an unlimited ability and capability to fulfill promises and commitments, His covenants.

In some respect, Abraham had no other option. He was at the end of himself and his life, literally. He and Sarah were long past the child bearing period of their lives. God's promise was made because He could and would make it happen, in-spite of Abraham's limitations. As we know, Abraham was not perfect in his belief and trust in God's promise. He tried to take back the wheel of control and created more worldly conflict through the birth of Ishmael. But that's for another devotional! What is important to remember is that God's promise was fulfilled in spite of Abraham's mess-up. His promise and plan would NOT be derailed!

The Abrahamic lesson is important in our lives today. What promises does God give you through His Word? How have you understood them, believed them, tried to take control or messed things up because you had a better plan?

 Dear Lord, Thank You for the life and story of Father Abraham. His story is my story: You have great promises for my life. Thank You for Your grace and patience with me. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to guide my thoughts, words and actions. To You be all the honor and glory. Amen

 Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through.

 ― Francis Chan