Dear Church Family,
God is eternal. He created time. He rules over time. His timing is perfect. I could list many more truth about God and time. These facts impact how we live. Violating them can lead to danger. The Bible gives many illustrations of this. Let’s look at one.
In Genesis 12, 15 and 17 God issues a series of promises to Abraham that He will make him a father of a great nation and all the world will be blessed through Abraham. For that to happen, Abraham and his wife Sarah must have a son. God did not give a specific time to Abraham as to when this would happen. God even did two separate ceremonies that sealed His promises in covenant ritual in Genesis 15 and 17. By doing so God stated that should He not fulfill His vow to bless Abraham He should be torn in two as the sacrificed animals had been split in chapter 15.
After God confirms His covenant with Abraham in chapter 17 a short time later He appears to Abraham in the next chapter. There He promises that “about this time next year…Sarah your wife will have a son.” At last, 24 years after God first promised him a son, God gives Abraham a due date. Now Sarah heard this and laughed. She described herself self as “worn out and my husband is old.” Though thought impossible from a human perspective, God kept His promises and in Genesis 21 Sarah gives birth to Isaac.
It would be a joy to say the family lived happily ever after, but that would not be true. A major problem existed in Abraham’s house. Ten years after God had promised Abraham a son, Abraham and Sarah developed a heart problem. They failed to believe to believe that God would be faithful in keeping His covenant. They got impatient. Their lack of being willing to wait on God’s perfect timing resulted in grave sin. Sarah had remained childless, so as custom but not God allowed, she gave her maidservant Hagar to Abraham so he could have a child with her.
In Genesis 16 Hagar meets an angel who blesses her by saying her son will have descendants “too numerous to count.” The angel also pronounces a curse, “He will be a wild donkey of a man; his had will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all people.” No doubt the angel’s words stung Hagar. She would have plenty of grandchildren, but they, like Ishmael, would be nothing but trouble. Indeed the Middle East and the world have been beset by trouble due to the line of Ishmael. The lack of patience to wait on the faithful God caused this mayhem.
Beware of this type of sin in your life. We like to glibly say, “Patience is a virtue.” Certainly that saying contains much truth. Sadly it can also be said that a lack of patience [that is, a failure to wait on the Lord] will lead to misery in the lives of many. May we live to the glory of God as we wait with patience on His promises. He will fulfill them in His perfect timing!
Living by grace to His glory,
Pastor Gillikin