Genesis 16:1-6 could be considered a classic example of a fatigued faith, one that has grown tired of waiting for the Promise from God to actually happen.
Abram was seventy-five years old when the Lord revealed to him that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky (chapter fifteen, verse five) yet we find Abram ten years later at the ripe old age of eighty-five still without offspring.
It’s been said that one of the most difficult lessons to learn in the schoolhouse of faith is the lesson of waiting. Initially, hope glows brightly in the human heart, however, the passage of time takes the luster away until the hope that so brightly shone before is but a mere flicker in the heart.
Such was the case with Abram and Sarai. The promise had been made, the beauty that she possessed could not take away the shame that Sarai experienced over not being able to conceive. She may have wondered in her heart, “what good is the promise that Abram received ten years ago if she didn’t have a child after ten years of waiting?” Likewise, Abram may have wondered something similar in his own heart, for after all, ten years had passed since the Lord spoke this promise to him that he would have an heir from his own body. Abram may have wondered if he had heard correctly or did he misunderstand the Lord ten years ago?
At times, failure in life’s faith struggles originates with hope deferred or delayed. Disappointment and fatigue can make one’s faith claims seem hollow and empty, perhaps nothing more than relics from the past, distortions brought about by mere wishful thinking while desiring the best.
The temptation to “assist” the Sovereign Lord to bring His promise to pass is understandable when one’s hope has been deferred for a long time and desperation sets in. After all, how many eighty-five year old men can father a child and how many seventy-five year old wives are able to give birth? One can understand the allure of the siren song of temptation that rings out in the tired heart, “God helps those who help themselves.”
Perhaps “common sense” that reminds all of the uncertainty and brevity of life were prime motivators in Abram & Sarai’s joint decision to do the “culturally acceptable thing” via Abram having a sexual relationship with the servant/slave of his wife? Perhaps through this event, the void they both experienced in their hearts, albeit differently in nature, would be filled, thus fulfilling the promise of God?
While we all know intellectually that the Sovereign Lord requires no one’s assistance, lest we smugly assume that we are immune from such temptation, let us not think so highly of ourselves that we think this could never happen to us!
How many times have we attempted to “assist” our Sovereign Lord in weaving His plan into our lives? Perhaps it was through “helping” Him deliver a major life accomplishment such as a business opportunity or a course of study or even a relationship that turned out to be as bitter as Abram and Sarai’s unfortunate choice.
God’s mercy is revealed through His Sovereign decision to also bless Abram and Hagar’s child Ishmael, however, their decision was did not reflect His Sovereign will and promise. Both Abram AND Sarai were to be the beneficiaries of His Sovereign will and promise, but that time had not yet come. In fact, both would need to wait an ADDITIONAL FIFTEEN years before the Lord’s time to fulfill His will and promise actually occurred.
A strong case can be made that even though Abram and Sarai were oblivious to their own weaknesses and shortsighted faith, God was not. Their additional fifteen-year enrollment in the schoolhouse of faith was a process of weaning them away from dependence upon themselves and their own energies. This further waiting was designed to teach them how trust the Lord and His power rather trust in their own limited understanding and strength.
Some commentators remark on the significance of Abram and Sarai’s name change as giving evidence of a deepening work of spiritual awareness wrought by the Presence of the Holy Spirit with the addition of the “h” to their names. Abram’s name was changed from Noble Father to Father of Many and Sarai’s name was changed from Princess to Mother of Many Nations.
Can twenty-five years of waiting by Abraham and Sarah be compared with the fulfillment of God’s will and purpose that THROUGH THEIR offspring Isaac, in the fullness of time, God would bring THEIR descendant Jesus Christ into the world to fulfill His promise that the “whosoever will” recipients of ETERNAL life would result in THEIR descendants being more numerous than the stars? Mind staggering, isn’t it? WOW!
Could it just be that there is a connection between the time we need to wait and the enormity of the fulfilling of the Sovereign Lord’s will and promise? Could it just be that the reason we wait and wait and wait some more give evidence of the amazing dimension of what the Lord WILL bestow upon us in accordance to His plan? Could it just be that while we are waiting, without our awareness, the Lord is working IN us to PREPARE us for the future that He has PLANNED for us from before the foundation of the world?
I submit to you that rather than complain about the Lord’s seeming delays, we make it our intended attitude to anticipate both His work IN us as He PREPARES us for Him to do what ONLY He can do! I encourage each reader of this to join me in turning a deaf ear to the discouragement that delay can produce in us and begin anew to hear with listening ears of faith the encouragement that comes from realizing the Lord expresses His power in our lives according to His wisdom and He is NEVER late!