Promises, promises

We're reading the story of Abraham and Sarah in Old Testament in Genesis 16-21. We've all read this story before, or at least know a little bit about it. That's what I thought anyways. But isn't reading scripture awesome? The living word. Just being able to open it up and realize new truths. It's fantastic.

 I probably have heard this story in countless sermons, numerous Sunday schools, and maybe in a graduation speech. It's kind of ridiculous how many times I've heard this little story, but rereading it again for this class was so refreshing. They're having us read it, and these little feminist commentaries on Hagar and Sarai, but what I really found the most interesting was looking at the protagonist of this story: Abraham. Yeah, Sarai probably did mistreat her slave/servant/maid, and that's awful. I agree with all of the commentaries that we read on the issue.

 But really (and maybe it's because I'm just a silly man), I focused on Abraham. It's just my empathetic personality, but I put myself into Abram's shoes this time reading it. And I thought about my internal struggle that I have with really listening to God. I believe that God speaks, has spoken, and will speak, and it's really stupid how often I ignore his voice. Even when all the signs point to him, I just stifle his stirrings. And I do my own thing.

When God gives promises, he sticks to them. God is not like man. God doesn't go back on his word. And God was not going to go back on his promise that he gave to Abram. But Abram, being the silly man that he is, went and created his own promise in Ishmael. It's like when Peyton Manning is about to have this amazing play for a touchdown, but one of his linemen fidgets before the hike. But that's exactly what happens here. Abraham falsely started; he jumped the gun. He messed up. He went on with his own plan because he couldn't fathom the Father's capability to supernaturally open up his wife's womb.

But God is good. He still allows Sarai to conceive, even after Abraham went outside of his covenant to father a child with the maid. And that's what gets me going: the fact that God still went along with his original plan to bless Abraham. God made a promise and stuck with it. That's something that I need to remind myself and hold onto. God makes promises to me everyday, and it may not be that my elderly wife is going to somehow conceive a child that will be the father of a great nation but still. God is on our side. He's rooting for us, and he's going to keep reminding us of his promises and faithfulness. And when we mess up, like Abraham (and he had many sons), God is going to hold up his end of the deal. These are his promises, promises.