Think about a wedding ring. A wedding ring doesn't keep a marriage together because the person wearing it feels loving every moment of every day. There will be difficult days, disappointments, misunderstandings, and seasons when emotions change. The ring represents a commitment that says, "I have chosen you, and I will remain faithful to you."
In the Christian life, there will be days when serving God is exciting and days when it is exhausting. There will be times when God's promises seem clear and times when we struggle to understand what He is doing. But faithfulness means that we don't base our commitment to God on how we feel or on how easy life is. We must make the deliberate choice to remain faithful to the Lord.
Available (Genesis 18:1-8)
This chapter begins with three men showing up near Abraham’s tent. He rushes to meet them (18:2), shows great respect to them (bows down, 18:2), and urges them to take advantage of his hospitality (18:3-5). This is inconvenient hospitality, to say the least, but it was a serious social obligation in the ancient Near East culture! There was no expectation of hosting company and on the spare of the moment Abraham offers for the men to wash their feet, rest, and eat a meal (and remember there was no microwave or a stop top to simply “turn on”). Abraham’s hospitality is wholehearted and generous. He invites these strangers into his tent, to his table, and into his heart.
This kind of wholehearted hospitality genuinely reflects the heart of God. When Abraham faced a famine (Gen. 13), God met Abraham’s needs abundantly. When Abraham went to war against the enemies who took his nephew captive (Gen. 14), God met Abraham’s needs victoriously. When Abraham struggled with fear and doubt (Gen. 13 & 15), God met Abraham in his struggles with security and comfort. Even when Abraham and Sarah chose their own way with Hagar (Gen. 16), God’s faithfulness did not change, and He drew Abraham close by reaffirming His promises!
Think of it this way. Imagine a friend hands you the keys to his fully restored 1967 Ford Mustang. You look up at him confused and he says, “I am going away for a few months. I trust you. Please take care of it while I am gone.”
Over the next few months, you never leave the doors unlocked or the windows down. You make sure the oil is changed when needed and you never let anyone abuse it. Why? Because this 1967 Ford Mustang in mint condition doesn’t belong to you. It was entrusted to you for a period of time.
Genesis 18 shows us that Abraham understood that relationships are entrusted to us for a time. He understood the stewardship of relationships. When God brought unexpected visitors to his tent, he did not see it as an interruption. Abraham saw an opportunity to steward the relationships God had entrusted to him. Relationships are gifts from God that we are called to steward wisely and generously. So, love people and treat them generously while God places them in your life!
Assured (Genesis 18:9-15)
In Genesis 18:1, we are told in scripture that it was the LORD approaching Abraham (“Yahweh,” the self-existent, eternal, unchanging God). However, scripture does not indicate that Abraham understood this right away. We are not told exactly when Abraham understands these men are more than mere travelers.
We do know that verse 9 begins a shift in the friendly chat with visitors, and they suddenly reveal they know of God’s promise to Abraham.
Verse 11 tells us Abraham and Sarah are “well stricken in age.” They were old! Abraham was 99, Sarah was 89, and Sarah had passed the age of child bearing.
These men see this “well stricken in age couple” and declare (v. 10) that Sarah will have a son by this time next year.
Verses 12 tells us Sarah laughs in her heart (not out loud). She reasons that she and her husband are now too old for the pleasure of a child.
The LORD challenges Sarah’s unbelief in verse 13. In fear, Sarah denies she laughed in verse 15, and the LORD doubles down and tells Sarah she did laugh. In the middle of impossible promises and unbelief, verse 14 says, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”
Just about all of us have ordered something online. After several days, we look up the tracking information for the package and it says, “Out for delivery.” So, we start to keep an eye out for the package, checking where the packages are usually dropped off by the front door. Nothing has arrived yet, but the company promised it was on its way.
Unfortunately, the package does not arrive before we turn in for bed, and we end up seeing a “delayed delivery” notification when we wake up in the morning. More time passes and another “delayed delivery” notification finds its way into our inbox. We start to wonder if it is really coming and whether we can trust the company’s promise to deliver. The problem is not that the promise changed. The problem is that the waiting became too long.
Sarah struggled to believe what God had promised, but we must remember the context of this struggle before we shake our heads in disapproval. Sarah has waited 24 years for God’s promise of a son to be fulfilled, and she is also now beyond the years of child bearing. Have you ever been surrounded with impossible circumstances and struggled with believing God’s promises?
Will God meet my needs (Ps. 23:1; Ps. 84:11; Matt. 6:31-33)?
How can God work this situation together for my good (Rom. 8:28)?
Has God really not forsaken me? Because I feel so alone (Is. 41:10; Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5)!
Where is the wisdom I need that God says He will give to those who ask (James 1:5; Matt. 7:7-8; Joshua 1:8)?
Our limited knowledge often tricks us into thinking God is taking too long or He is even late on delivering His promises (as though we know more about the need than God does). Yet, God’s knowledge is unlimited! He knows the end from the beginning when we don’t know what we are doing tomorrow. God is never late and nothing is impossible for the LORD! Renew your trust in the LORD’s promises!
Active (Genesis 18:16-33)
This chapter closes with Abraham actively influencing others through prayer and godly leadership. Where does our influencing others lead them?
In verse 19, the LORD commends Abraham for the legacy he will leave behind. A legacy of teaching his family to follow the ways of the LORD.
We have many in the GRACE family teaching their family the ways of the Lord. One of these families is moving away this week. They are actively serving the Lord, actively worshiping the Lord, and faithfully leading by example. These examples of serving God are not able to be sustained without significant relationship with God. Relationship with God is much more than what others see. Relationship with God consistently begins from within…rehearsing Bible truths consistently to transform desires and impact the outward choices on display!
Then, in Genesis 18:16-21, the LORD makes the decision to tell Abraham that He is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because their sin was exceedingly great. Abraham knows his nephew (Lot) and his nephew’s family was living in the pathway of this destruction, and so he begins to intercede on their behalf. For the rest of chapter 18 (verses 23-33), is filled with Abraham pleading with God to not slay the righteous with the wicked. In fact, Abraham asks the Lord five times to spare the righteous in those cities, and each request is made with greater urgency and smaller numbers of possible righteous people to spare.
Abraham left a legacy of following the ways of the Lord, and more specifically, a vibrant prayer life for others! What does your legacy look like right now? If you were to pass from this life this week, and enter eternity, what legacy of living for God would you leave behind from which your family and friends could learn and follow. Would your legacy lead others closer to the LORD? How would you describe the fervency and faithfulness of your prayers for others? Do you lack answers to your prayers because you lack any praying at all?
In 1952, a massive storm struck the northeast coast of England. The waves were enormous, the winds were fierce, and one lighthouse keeper was responsible for keeping the light burning through the night. He knew the storm was dangerous. He knew the waves could damage the lighthouse. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop the storm. But his job was simple: keep the light burning.
He didn't have to control the storm. He didn't have to calm the waves. He didn't have to understand why the storm had come. He simply had to remain faithful to the responsibility entrusted to him.
There are times when life feels like a storm. Circumstances change. People disappoint us. God's promises seem to take longer than we expected. We may face pressures that make us wonder if it is worth continuing to serve, trust, and obey God.
But faithfulness is not determined by how calm the circumstances are around us. Faithfulness is a deliberate choice to keep doing what God has called us to do, regardless of the circumstances.
We must make the deliberate choice to remain faithful to our every faithful God.