MosaicRC

Is there anything worse than waiting? For instance, the waiting room or any waiting area is usually drab and boring. Why is that? It only makes it harder and time tic by seemingly slower. Waiting for things can be painful, especially “good” things. A luxurious vacation, moving into a new home, or having a baby — these are a few things that are hard to wait for. In chapter 16 of Genesis, we find Abram and Sarai in this very predicament, waiting for their promised son. In Chapter 12:7, God had promised them an offspring to inherit the land they were now living on. In chapters 13:15 and 15:4, God again reminded Abram of His promise of a son, from his own body, not an adopted heir but born into his family.

** tic toc tic toc ** After 10 years of waiting and Abram 86 years old talking about it with a 75 year old Sarai, it must have seemed like God had forgotten. Sarai, deciding that God Almighty must need help, turns Hagar, her Egyptian maidservant well within her child bearing days, over to her husband, Abram — a form of surrogate motherhood. Not waiting for God to fulfill His promise and deciding to “help Him out” usually has lots of complications. It is always a mistake to interfere with what God is doing and planning.

Mistakes

• Sarai — Taking God’s place to make something happen.
• Abram — Going along with Sarai’s plan.
• Abram and Sarai — Not asking God’s counsel on this issue.
• Hagar — Pride and arrogance toward Sarai after conception.

Consequences

• Sarai — Marital discord with her husband for giving him into the intimacy of another and the loss of Hagar as a loyal supportive servant.
• Abram — Confusion and marital stress with Sarai due to his passivity and not consulting God.
• Hagar — The loss of a good position within the family system and the vengeance of Sarai.
• Ishmael — He will be a “Wild donkey of a man and be the enemy to all and be an enemy of all.”

So here we have an example of what happened when someone decided to help God out near the beginning of humanity, not good. And so it is today. I have a hard time keeping my nose out of God’s business and often lean toward the ignorance of Sarai. I have seen time and time again, when I or others get into the role of “God’s unwelcome helper” and find it gets quite messy. So how do we wait on God?

I think Noah is a good place to see how to wait on God. Noah is the only righteous man in God’s eyes as God sees it fit to wipe out the evil humanity of Noah’s day. God meets with Noah and tells him His plan, “I am sending floodwater, make an ark.” Throughout the story we see these words, “God said to Noah.”  God said to Noah, “Make an ark.” God said to Noah, “Get in the ark.” God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark.” God said to Noah, “I now establish my covenant with you.” God revealed to Noah His plan a hundred years before it came. All the way through, God guided him; and Noah was obedient to His every word. Noah didn’t act until God directed him. The Bible says, Noah did all that the LORD commanded him (Genesis 6:22, 7:5).

Abram and Sarai took God’s matters into their own hands and made a mess out of things. Thankfully, God is gracious; and He worked around the situation. Noah waited and was obedient to what was asked of him by God. Both men are known in the Hebrews 11 as fathers of faith, but Noah’s example seems cleaner and easier than that of Abram and Sarai’s. As it has been penned and sung by Tom Petty and the heartbreakers, “The waiting is the hardest part.”

It had been 10 years since God had eluded to Abram that he would have an offspring. In chapter 12:7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” Abram still waiting for this particular promise feels like precious time is slipping away from him, and his heart longs for a child of his own. After an incredibly lucrative rescue victory of his nephew Lot and an encounter with Melchizedek the pre-incarnate Christ (Jesus before he was born on earth), Abram gives all of his worship (not to mention the treasure) to God (chapter 14).

Chapter 15:  In a vision, God speaks to Abram and tells him not to worry, He will protect him, and God is his great reward. Abram is an enormously wealthy man. Rewards mean nothing to him at this point, because he has nobody to leave them to. He subtly reminds God (as if God didn’t know) that he “Still” has no heir of his own; and when he dies, all of his inheritance will go to servant who is not a blood relative.

God instructs Abram to look up into the night sky and count the stars. He reminds Abram of His promise (10 years earlier) that his descendants will exceed the stars. A light bulb went off in Abram’s head and fell down to his heart; Abram believed God! Amazingly, Abram’s status went from an unrighteous man to being reckoned as righteous. It has been said that there is no longer distance for man than the distance between his head and his heart. This is just what God needed in order to make a (Covenant) formal agreement with Abram.

God sends Abram to collect the necessary animals for the covenant sacrifices and to make ready the alter and preparations for the ceremony to officiate the contract. A bull, ram, goat, dove, and pigeon must be cut in two and laid out opposite each other with room enough for two people to walk between as the vow is made. Abram, waiting for the presence of God to show up to finish up the contract, falls asleep and sees the future of his descendants: slavery under the Egyptians for four hundred years and finally they will possess the land where Abram is living. As for the man himself, he will die peacefully at a ripe old age and be buried in the land.

A groggy Abram, seeing through blurry eyes, looks upon the severed animals in the middle of the night to see God in the form of a smoking pot and burning torch walking between the sacrifices. God has promised Abram an offspring, descendants, land, blessing for himself, cursing of enemies, and that through Abram the entire world would be blessed. These promises were so gigantic that God left Abram’s name off of the covenant. By walking between the sacrifice Himself, we are assured that these promises will be fulfilled. God doesn’t make promises that don’t come true!

It was through the blood line of Abram that Jesus came, a blessing to all who “Believe.” There are many promises given to us in the Bible, the greatest being in the book of John 3:16. When we believe, we have a life everlasting in heaven with God and Jesus, a life in true paradise. A wonderful thing happens when our heart “Believes” this truth: our status increases from our own unrighteousness to that of Jesus’ righteousness. That is, somehow when God looks at us, he doesn’t see our junk. He knows about it of course, but chooses to overlook it. He sees us like He sees Jesus: His one and only Son.