Believe the Word the Lord Has Spoken
By Hannah Benson
Bible Reading:
“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’” (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV).
Recently, I re-read Abraham’s story through new eyes. Isn’t it amazing how we can read the same stories in Scripture again and again, yet every time we read them, the Lord will often reveal things we’ve never realized before?
God called Abraham (then called Abram) to leave his homeland and everything he knew and was familiar with to go to a land that He would show him.
How did Abraham feel about that? Was he afraid at all? Excited? Probably both.
But regardless of how he felt, note that he stepped forward in faith even though he didn’t have all the answers.
Read that again.
If God calls us to do something, we must step forward in faith even if we don’t have all the answers. In fact, I have found that God doesn’t always give us the answers all at once.
He’ll tell us the first step we need to take.
So many of us look at the long road ahead of us and think we need all the answers before we move forward.
A friend pointed out to me recently that in Exodus 24, Moses went into the fog of the mountain. Clarity came through hearing God’s voice and not from what he could see.
I do want to include a disclaimer here. Sometimes, the Lord puts something on our hearts, but it doesn’t mean the time is now. Just because something may be a God-thing doesn’t mean it’s always God’s time for it.
But when God calls us to step forward in faith, even when we can’t see the path ahead?
Step forward.
Go for it.
Even if you aren’t sure how, take the next step.
God didn’t just call Abraham. He gave him a promise. He promised He would make him a great nation, bless him, and make his name great so that he would be a blessing (Genesis 12:1-3).
Imagine what it meant for Abraham to believe that promise.
He had to leave everything familiar behind.
He had to step forward in faith even though it was frightening.
No matter what ran through Abraham’s mind, he chose to believe the promise God spoke, not knowing how or when it would come to fruition. He probably thought he would see the promise soon.
If God were to make him a great nation, then that meant God would give him a child. At this point, Abraham was 75 years old and his wife, Sarah, was 65. Perhaps he thought God would fulfill the promise within the next couple of years. After all, that made logical sense. Already, they were advanced in years and past childbearing age.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV).
In other words, God doesn’t always do what makes logical sense to us.
And that’s what happened.
The promise took time, and in that time, Abraham grew discouraged.
He asked God questions. He wondered when it would happen, if the heir to his house would be Eliezer (Genesis 15:2).
God reassured Abraham that “your very own son shall be your heir” (Genesis 15:4 ESV). The Lord made a covenant with Abraham. Covenants in those days were made when two parties sacrificed animals, and the persons making the covenant passed between the split animals (or in the case of a king and his servant, the servant would pass through by himself), symbolizing, “May I be torn apart like these animals if I don’t keep my promise.” Sounds intense, doesn’t it?
Usually, the servant would walk between the animals. But instead, God put Abraham into a deep sleep and passed through the animals Himself. In other words, He was saying that He would be the One to pay the price if the covenant was broken (Genesis 15).
Abraham didn’t always remain perfectly faithful because, like the rest of us, he’s a sinner and unable to be perfect before a holy God. And one day, God fulfilled His promise, allowing Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, to be broken in atonement for all the sins we’ve committed and the broken promises we’ve ever made.
Isn’t that such a beautiful picture?
In Genesis 16, however, Abraham and Sarah (at the time still called Abram and Sarai) took matters into their own hands. Sarah suggested to Abraham that he “go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her” (v. 2b).
Abraham listened to his wife and had a child through Hagar.
God doesn’t waste anything, and every child, no matter how they are conceived, is a gift and a blessing. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t pain and conflict as a result of our actions.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
When we wait so long for something, we often begin to lose hope and think we must take matters into our own hands.
10 years after God made the promise that he would make of Abraham a great nation, the man and his wife still didn’t have a child.
Sometimes, the Lord asks us to knock, move forward in faith, and do something (Matthew 7:7).
Other times, the Lord asks us to quiet our hearts and be still before Him (Psalm 46:10).
In Abraham and Sarah’s story, God asked them to believe (Hebrews 11:11, Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:18).
God called them to go from their country and kindred to a land that He would show them, but after that, He didn’t have specific instructions. No doubt it made them wonder if they were supposed to do something, which is why Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham as a wife. Perhaps then she could bear a child through her servant.
But that was not what God had meant.
No, Sarah herself would bear a son.
The Lord had spoken the word.
No word from the Lord will return empty. It shall accomplish that which He has purposed and shall succeed in the thing for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:11) and “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3 ESV).
Pray with me:
Dear Father, I thank You that Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105). I confess I often doubt Your Word and want all the answers rather than trusting You to take the next step. When I am in a season of “fog” like Moses, help me to listen for Your voice. When I am in a season of “waiting” like Abraham, help me to trust Your timing over my logic. Protect me from taking matters into my own hands, and give me the grace to be still when You say “wait” and the courage to move when You say “go.” Thank you for keeping Your promises, even when I am weak. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
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Listen to the Jesus Calling Podcast!
Welcome to this special bonus episode of the Jesus Calling Podcast, inspired by the topical themes from Sarah Young’s seasonal prayer devotional Jesus Listens: Prayers for Every Season. Today, we are featuring guests who speak to themes that all of us might be experiencing in this season of winter. As the days grow shorter and the night longer, we are offered a rare gift: permission to stop. This season can be a challenging time for many, and if you are struggling with low spirits, please know you are not alone, and help is available. This episode is an opportunity to honor your weariness, to resist the urge to rush, and to discover the profound healing that happens when we simply let ourselves rest in the stillness. If you like what you hear, be sure to follow Jesus Calling on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
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