If you haven't already, grab a brew, a biccy, and watch part two of "60 Seconds of Faith" on perseverance before reading this as the two are fairly closely linked. TLP
Hey there!
When thinking about what to put for the next episode of 60 Seconds of Faith, I naturally began to think of common examples of perseverance. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that perseverance is all across the Bible as long as you know where to look. From David persevering in his escape of his persecutor; Saul, to examples of Jesus' own perseverance when it came to the people's own ignorance at what He was trying to demonstrate.
In the end, though, I landed upon Abraham & Sarah's story, around the time they received the 'promise' from God that he would be a father to many nations & that Sarah would play her part by giving birth herself.
But what good would that do, given he was almost a hundred years old and she wasn't far behind?
Let's zoom in for a closer look...
A Quick Recap
We'll just recap for a moment, Genesis chapter 16 features a typical "human" response to God saying He will provide, in that it was through self-effort, I believe, that both Abraham and Sarah tried to make the promise come to life in a way that they could understand.
This is where the power of blind faith can show itself to be both irrational and amazing in equal measure. It's irrational because there is no seen way that the two of them could become parents because of their age, stick with me when I say this, the end justifies the means I promise you, and also amazing because reading on into chapter 17 it actually happens the way God meant it to: -
But God said, “On the contrary, Sarah your wife will bear you a son and you must name him Isaac. So I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. Gen 17:19 (emphasis added)
I'm going to focus upon similar readings as in my broadcast, so I encourage you, as always, to watch it before you read this, unless you know the story already, in which case let's keep moving.
The Perseverance of Abraham
My first stop on my look at perseverance is Abraham's natural reaction to being told he would be a father at such an, um, advanced age: -
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to his heart, “Will a son be born to a 100-year-old man? Or will Sarah—who is 90 years old—give birth?” Gen 17:17 (emphasis added for effect)Firstly, before I address the doubt that's clearly in Abraham's mind, let's take a look at the verse that follows this: -
So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live before you!” Gen 17:18 (emphasis added for effect)Interesting response given that prior to this he had already engaged, with Sarah, in a blatant act of disobedience that God still managed to overlook.
Why?
I don't think we need to spend too much time on answering that question because it's easy; God was determined to bless Abraham & as it turned out, the rest of the nations for all the rest of time through him.
I guess you could say that there is no escaping God when He's determined!
So, now we come onto the doubts that must have clearly been in his mind. He was, I believe, sceptical that God actually could pull off such a feat as pregnancy within two amazing people like they were. In the natural, this is perfectly understandable because it is genetically unlikely that people become parents the older they get.
That's just a fact, though there are some exceptions every now and then.
What I believe God was saying through this, just like He is saying to us all today is that it clearly doesn't matter how old you are, what you think you are capable of, because God can still use you!
People often shrivel up into an existence of doubt as they grow older because they think their purposes have either died out or come to an end when that is not true at all!
Littered through the Bible are examples of people of a more, um, advanced age, fulfilling their God-given purposes.
Secondly, God is forgiving and forgives any mistake, it doesn't matter how severe. I though that sounds both controversial and extreme but... IT... IS... TRUE!!!
There's nowhere you can go that God cannot reach you and therefore, there's nowhere you can be that He can not find a way through your difficult circumstances!
I could go on, and I'm sure that I will in the months to come, but for now let me just ask you to please take heart that no matter where you're from, no matter how you fall, you are covered by the grace of God Almighty!
Final Thought
My final thought, before this post gets too long, lol, is that in spite of their mistakes, Abraham and Sarah were renamed: -
"No longer will your name be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, because I make you the father of a multitude of nations... God also said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her by the name Sarai. Rather, Sarah is her name." Gen 17:5 & 15 respectively (emphasis, as always, added for effect)God can rename your failures and turn them into successes, He can rename your hopes and dreams and call them "destiny".
Abraham went from being called "high father" to "father of a multitude", Sarah went from "dominative" to a "queen".
Wow!
Just take a moment and let that sink in; the way God renamed them both leaving them better off than they were before!
Ask Him to do that to you today, He's already done that for me and maybe one day I'll share with you my name! ;)
God can see you, regardless of age and see right through to your heart: -
God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart 1 Samuel 16:7 (emphasis added)
So what I'm saying today is this; give God a chance to rename your future, for you are not bound to fail, you're destined to reign!
Keep on persevering for those hopes and dreams, bro's, they're bound to come off as long as they align with His will!
As always, it's been fun learning with you! ;)
Peace off!
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