God is working His plans out

What is God doing in the world? Do you ever wonder that?

For many years Abraham and Sarah struggled with the pain of childlessness. For years they had the pain of everyone else seeming to have no problems conceiving, there was an emptiness, a bereavement without actually having lost anyone. Where was God? Well, for years they had served pagan gods, and then suddenly out of the blue, the LORD made an undeserved promise. God would make Abraham into a great nation! How could this be? He was 75 years old and childless. Amazingly Abraham believed and went to the land that God told him to go to. Yet, his faith was wavering faith, you see, God’s timing was not quite as Abraham would have liked and a few times he seems to think God needs a bit of help.

The first time he tries to help God is by seeking to preserve his life. Abraham figures he will die if people discover that Sarah is his wife, so he tells her to lie, what use are the promises if he’s dead!

But God is able to work things out despite Abraham’s failure.

God makes another incredible promise to Abraham, his descendants will be as numerous as the stars (Genesis 15). Amazingly Abraham believes, and wonderfully we are told that God counts Abraham righteous because of His faith. This is the way to be friends with God! To take Him at His word, to trust him.

God makes a further promise to Abraham through the strange ritual of the animals cut in half. This was the way people used to make agreements. They would walk between the dissected animals and recite the terms of the agreement, the decapitated animals would be a reminder to them of the seriousness of the promises. It was as if they were saying, let this happen to me if I don’t jeep my word. The strange thing in Genesis 15 is that it is only God (represented by the torches) who walks through the animals. God is saying if the terms are broken, he will take the punishment. An incredibly gracious promise, pointing us forward to Christ’s death for us.

And yet, despite all these promises, Abraham and Sarah still think God needs their help with his salvation plan! To be fair, 10 years have passed (Abraham is now 86- see Genesis 16:16) and there is still no pitter patter of little feet, no cries of a baby. So Sarah tells Abraham to try having a child with Hagar. This was a bad idea that led to lots of hurt, its never a good idea to try and take things into our hands, it’s always a good idea to trust the Lord even when we don’t understand.

But then there is nothing again for over 10 years, and then the Lord gives another promise, and the sign of circumcision. This was a sign for believers and their children in the Old Testament. It was a sign that pointed to the need for our sinful hearts to be circumcised, a sign that showed that our uncleanness needs to be cut off. It was a bloody sign that pointed to the need for blood to be shed. A sign that was replaced by baptism in the New Testament. Since Christ’s once for all sacrifice for sins there is no longer any need for the shedding of blood, but believers and their children may now receive the sign of baptism as a sign of sin being washed away and belonging to Christ.

And yet, despite the sign, there is still no baby! You can understand why Sarah laughs when she hears another promise in Genesis 18, she has long since given up hope. Perhaps it’s a bitter laugh.

Sometimes we may wonder where God is and what He is up to. The narrative of Abraham assures us that God is working out His plans, even when it may not appear to fit into our timescale. Even the long delay in exile (as promised in Genesis 15 is part of the Lord’s salvation plan.

God is not in a rush, and yet in our gospel reading we see our Lord Jesus, meeting and reassuring the disciples in their distress, “it is I, do not be afraid.”

Are there areas where you are struggling to trust the Lord’s plans and His timing? Why not ask him to help you learn from Abraham that His plans will not fail, and if you belong to Jesus by a faith like Abraham, then He is working for your eternal good.