Philippians 3: 17-4:1
Sometimes we have read certain bible stories so often that they lose their potency. We think we know everything there is to know about the passage and so we skip over it with impatient eyes and our thoughts moving toward the next scripture. As a pastor who hopes to be in this profession for another 35 years, I know there will be scriptures I preach on over and over again. What new things can I bring to such a well known passage? I am learning that there is always something new, there is always something more there that none of us have ever noticed before and it takes a heart willing to see and hear it.
The text in Genesis is about how the journey toward Christianity began. One that has an old couple who are tired and slightly bitter at what God has not given them despite their faithful following of his Word. God appears to Abram in a vision and tells him, “Do not fear, I am your shield and your very great reward.” and this is where I found something I never noticed before. Abram has the audacity to question God! His bitterness does not let awe and fear control his tongue.
Instead, he turns to God and says, “Sovereign Lord, what is it you think you can give me since you have never answered the one prayer that I desired most to be fulfilled – that of having an heir?”
My grandmother has told me the older she gets the more inclined she is to say whatever comes through her mind. She states her opinion boldly and without fear because when she was young she let fear stop her from stating the truth too often. Perhaps Abram felt the same way. He had nothing left to lose since he was an old man without an heir to pass along what he had worked so hard for during his long life.
Many of us have been taught that we should not question God. That God is good and benevolent and all powerful and all knowing so whatever happens in our life is surely part of his plan. Do not question what God has set into motion! However, Abram’s response to God’s, “do not fear” seems to question such thinking. He wanted answers and now that God was finally talking to him; he was going to get those answers!
God does not smite Abram for his audacity to question God’s promises and plans. Instead, he takes him outside and tells him to look up and then makes a promise that probably left Abram breathless. “Look up and count the stars - if you can – and that is how many your offspring shall be.”
Abram believes this promise God has made and still, he questions him again. He says, “How will I know this will truly happen?” Abram is a bold man. His boldness should inspire us to be equally bold in our faith. Abram’s questions are a reminder to us that we all need reassurances. We all need God to reiterate his promises and help us to believe in what seems impossible.
Abram reminds us that to question God is not disloyal or an act of disbelief.
Questions give God a chance to reassure us. Moments of doubt bring to us a deeper faith. No one goes through life without experiencing both questions and doubts. When we give voice to these things we open up the communication between God and us. We give the Holy Spirit a chance to calm our spirit and we give Jesus a chance to bridge the gap that exists between our Father in Heaven and us.
I find it interesting that right after Abram has a chance to speak to God and get a promise of what he wants most in his life – an heir – that Abram falls asleep and a heavy darkness falls over him. Abram had done everything that the Lord had asked him to and yet there was a darkness that followed him. The way the lectionary works, we skipped over several verses where it mentions that God speaks to Abram during this deep sleep and tells him things that he may not have wanted to hear because it would affect his descendants, but even in the midst of darkness, God speaks to Abram.
What can we learn from such a thing? No matter how good of a person you are there will be doubts that linger in your heart about the promises Jesus has offered you. There will be days when you want to throw up your hands and give in to all the temptations and sins that exist in the world. There will be days when your heart is heavy in your chest and your mind is plagued with doubts. Still, in those moments, God is speaking to your heart and mind.
Abram stuck to what the Lord had said, believed despite the darkness that was within him as well as the doubts that filled his mind to overflowing. And because Abram worked through his doubts and found a deeper faith in God, that is when God made a covenant with Abram that began the journey to salvation for the entire world.
What can God do with us if we are willing to walk through the darkness and come out the other side? What will God give to us if we are willing to experience those forty days of wilderness and accept there is more to life than we can touch, taste, smell, and know? What may we learn if we’re willing to question what we never have before? What will God promise that will leave us as breathless as Abram?
Be brave. Be bold. God reminds us today that there is nothing to fear if we are true to our hearts and His Spirit.
Amen.
Questions give God a chance to reassure us. Moments of doubt bring to us a deeper faith. No one goes through life without experiencing both questions and doubts. When we give voice to these things we open up the communication between God and us. We give the Holy Spirit a chance to calm our spirit and we give Jesus a chance to bridge the gap that exists between our Father in Heaven and us.
I find it interesting that right after Abram has a chance to speak to God and get a promise of what he wants most in his life – an heir – that Abram falls asleep and a heavy darkness falls over him. Abram had done everything that the Lord had asked him to and yet there was a darkness that followed him. The way the lectionary works, we skipped over several verses where it mentions that God speaks to Abram during this deep sleep and tells him things that he may not have wanted to hear because it would affect his descendants, but even in the midst of darkness, God speaks to Abram.
What can we learn from such a thing? No matter how good of a person you are there will be doubts that linger in your heart about the promises Jesus has offered you. There will be days when you want to throw up your hands and give in to all the temptations and sins that exist in the world. There will be days when your heart is heavy in your chest and your mind is plagued with doubts. Still, in those moments, God is speaking to your heart and mind.
Abram stuck to what the Lord had said, believed despite the darkness that was within him as well as the doubts that filled his mind to overflowing. And because Abram worked through his doubts and found a deeper faith in God, that is when God made a covenant with Abram that began the journey to salvation for the entire world.
What can God do with us if we are willing to walk through the darkness and come out the other side? What will God give to us if we are willing to experience those forty days of wilderness and accept there is more to life than we can touch, taste, smell, and know? What may we learn if we’re willing to question what we never have before? What will God promise that will leave us as breathless as Abram?
Be brave. Be bold. God reminds us today that there is nothing to fear if we are true to our hearts and His Spirit.
Amen.
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