When Abram was already an old man – 75 years old, God called
him to take his wife Sarai and his possessions and travel away from his family
and country. Travel to a new land God
would give to Abram and his descendants.
But Abram had no descendants. He had sheep and goats and tents and
servants, but he and Sarai were childless.
Still he packed up and left his father and family because he trusted in
God’s promise
God said, I will make of you a great nation,
and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and
the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth
shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:2-3)
A year
passed.
Two
years passed.
Most of a decade passed.
Abram was living in the land God promised. Abram and his wife Sarai and their many
tents, and hundreds of servants, and great flocks lived in the land and grew
very wealthy indeed. But they still had
no child.
Abram looking over all his wealth thought that perhaps he
would need to adopt his chief servant, Eliezer as his heir. Perhaps that would be the way God fulfilled
his promise – through adoption.
One night he was out looking at the stars, and wondering if
God remembered the promise, and if Eliezer would have to be his heir. Then God spoke to him, “Look at the stars and
count them – if you can! That’s how many
descendants you will have – from your son.
Your son will be your heir, not your servant, and I will keep my promise
through him.
And
Abram stared up at the stars – so many stars.
And he trusted God’s promises.
Another
year passed.
Maybe
two.
It was
now 10 years after God promised to make Abram the father of a great nation.
Abram
wondered why God was so slow. Sarai
longed for a child. They began to doubt
the promise. They began to think they
misunderstood.
So they
decided to do what was common at that time when a couple was childless – Abram would
have a child be one of Sarai’s servants and she would adopt the child as hers. At last, at 86 years old, Abram became a
father.
It was
not the best decision they could have made.
Sarai became jealous. Hagar her maid began to think maybe Abram would
marry her instead of Sarai. Abram’s
heart broke over the trouble in his household.
He wanted Hagar’s son to be his heir.
A year
passed,
Two
years passed.
Thirteen
years passed.
Abram
was now 99 and Sarah 89, and still did not have a child of their own, when God
appeared to Abram again. Hagar’s son
was not the promised child. Sarai would
have a son. To reaffirm the promise, God
changed Abram’s name to Abraham – father of nations – and Sarai’s name to Sarah
– princess – to emphasize the trustworthiness of the promise.
And Abraham laughed….laughed at God.
Abraham
also had questions. How could a couple
so very old possibly have a child? It
was absurd. And what about Hagar’s son,
whom he loved? What would become of him?
God
assured Abraham that Sarah would indeed have a child. And Hagar’s son, while not the child of
promise, would be blessed and also become a great nation.
Abraham
trusted God and his and all the males of his household were circumcised as a
sign of God’s covenant, as God commanded.
A month
passed
Maybe
two.
Maybe
three.
Abraham
had visitors. After asking Sarah to get
a feast ready for the three travelers, he sat down to talk. Little did he know that he was entertaining
angels and they visitors had astounding news – Sarah would have a son by this
time next year.
Sarah
laughed. How could she, eighty-nine
years old have a child when she couldn’t have one when she was young?
Is anything
too wonderful, too difficult, too hard for God?
A year
passed.
Well at
least nine months.
And
Sarah held in her arms the proof of God’s faithfulness – Isaac her son.
That
night, Abraham thought one star shone just a little brighter.
Centuries
passed.
One
thousand years.
A
little over two thousand years.
Abraham’s
descendents did become a nation. And God
continued to be faithful to them, even when they were not grateful, when they
complained, when they doubted and were confused, and even when they downright
didn’t trust God.
One night
some of Abraham’s descendents were out in the fields watching their sheep when
a star blazed brightly and angels told them about the birth of the promised
child, who would indeed bless everyone on earth, through his life, death and
resurrection.
Centuries
have passed.
One
thousand years
A little over two
thousand years.
God’s
promise continues.
Sometimes,
the children of the promise find it easy to trust.
Sometimes,
we doubt.
Sometimes,
we’re confused and impatient.
Sometimes,
we make our own plans.
Sometimes,
we just plain don’t understand.
But
always, God is faithful.
