Abraham

For when you don’t understand God’s ways… 


“God always does the right thing.” 


(Genesis 15:2-6) But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”


And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” 


He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 



GOD ALWAYS DOES THE RIGHT THING…


1. Even if it takes a long time.


(Genesis 16:1-2) Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 


2. Even if it seems absurd. 



(Genesis 18:10-14) Then the Lord said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."


Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 


So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?" 


Then the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' 



Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son." 


3. Even if it doesn’t seem right. 


(Genesis 18:23, 25) Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? …Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 


4. Even if we don’t understand.


(Hebrews 11:17-19) By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. Even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned’, Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead…”



FINAL WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT 


 “Don’t make earth your home.” 


(Hebrews 11:9-10) By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 


 “Live with an eternal perspective.” 


(Hebrews 11:12) And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. 



(Hebrews 11:13-16) All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. 

And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.


If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. 


Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.   


Chris Hodges,  Church of the Highlands 

 https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/abraham   

 https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/files/groups/guides/2-26-12.pdf