Put yourself in old Abraham or Sarah's shoes....no heir as indicated and promised by God, bodies 'as good as dead' (love the descriptive language of the Bible!) and the fertility prospects of a eunuch!Three options were open to Ab and Sarah. One, believe God and wait. Two, wait as long as you can stick it and then make your own plan (sound familiar?). Three, just give up and settle for whatever 'the cards' are dealing you!!
Abraham and Sarah eventually arrived at non-negotiable believing via a journey in 'the flesh' making pragmatic haste through Hagar, the servant help to Sarah. To criticise this lapse in faith and patience would be harsh knowing our own frailties as we do, but interestingly God EXPECTS us to believe Him ('And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him' Hebrews 11v6)
The world that we live in abides by the mantra of 'Seeing is believing', this walk with Christ is such that His order is reversed to 'BELIEVING IS SEEING'!
Over some years of pioneer mission and ministry in the Indian-Sub Continent and Ireland, I have to say that I have found that the rational mind has little to do with my ability to stay on track through 'Faith and Patience' and avoid 'Hagarisms' and stay moderately sane!! (ask Ali for confirmation!!) So many circumstances we face(d) contradict the desired outcome and Promises of God's New Covenant in which we 'stand'. Hindu tradition, extreme poverty, idol worship, traditional, nominal and institutionalised 'christianity', materialism, apathy, hedonism, moralism, relativism, self-sufficiency, to name a few. Trying to 'manage outcomes' ( a la Hagar/Ishmael) in our own strength just does not work and leads to problems. God has initiated His love toward us in that while we remained in a 'lost' condition He died for us (on behalf of us) This is the Grace through which we 'enter' and by which we 'walk'. Will we dare to believe?
Having done all, God calls us to continue to stand and to really believe, to know that He is FOR His children and to defy logic and circumstances - which can have no solid basis for ongoing belief. The rational mind is at emnity with believing, trusting faith, the faith of a child who knows that Father God won't let His kids down!? Any comments??
1 comment:
Hi guys!
Yes, this is something I'll be pondering about. I'm reminded of what Jesus said about having a child-like faith, and for me is harder when you are an adult being asked to become a child again in the way you think and act as in you do and believe what you are told. John
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