A defining characteristic of the wilderness is its uncertain timeline. Part of what makes it such a bitter experience is the waiting. You might know it won’t last forever, you might be certain that God will eventually lead you to that place/dream/ministry/relationship He promised, but you simply have no idea when.
No figures who crossed Bible terrain have more waiting in their story than perhaps Abraham and Sarah. Let’s summarize their story a bit:
- At seventy-five years old, God calls Abraham to leave his home and head to an unknown land the Lord will show him. (Genesis 12:1-9)
- After arriving at the promised destination, a famine strikes the land and they head to Egypt for a while. (Genesis 12:10 – 13:4)
- God makes a covenant with Abraham, and Abraham believes he will have a child in his old age. (Genesis 15)
- Still no baby. It’s been eleven years since God first promised to make Abraham a great nation. He sleeps with Hagar, his wife’s maidservant, and they have Ishmael when Abraham is eighty-six years old. (Genesis 16)
- Thirteen more years pass. Thirteen. God appears to Abraham again and declares that Sarah, although she is now ninety years old, will have a son. (Genesis 17:1 – 18:15)
Here are the verses, the capstone, that finish off Abraham and Sarah’s twenty-four years of waiting:
“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.”
Genesis 21:1-2
So, how long have you been waiting on God to show up and do that thing you know only He can do?
I get squirmy after twenty-four days, let alone twenty-four years. It’s no wonder that Abraham’s name is mentioned a grand total of 119 times outside of the book of Genesis, where his narrative is contained. All that waiting, all that trusting, all that faithfulness (not to mention a few huge mistakes), earned him the renown of the one whose belief was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6 and James 2:23)
I want to leave you with a word-treasure: to wait. It’s original meaning strongly implies looking for something eagerly and with hope. It can even mean twisting, binding together, creating a rope.
Grasp this rope in your darkest moments of uncertainty and doubt. Twist up your hopes and your expectations in the God of Abraham, and hang on to Him for dear life.
He will pull you through.
Respond
What are your hopes twisted up in? Are they holding fast to God’s unchanging character and word, or are they being dragged through a slurry of circumstances?
Read
Wonder
What questions do these verses stir in you?
Worship
How do you see God’s character revealed?
Walk it out
Where does it connect with your life? How can it help you walk closer to God?
No Comments