I have been
reading in Genesis in my Bible lately. I recently read about Abraham and how he
and Sarah could not have a child, even though God had promised one to him.
Abraham decided to take matters into his own hands and have a child with
Sarah's maid, Hagar. I am sure you are familiar with the events. Sarah does end
up having a child and the whole thing ends up a mess because Abraham got ahead
of God and tried to manipulate circumstances, out of God's will. I am sure he
thought he was helping God out. God doesn't need our help. I have to remind
myself of that sometimes...a lot.
Because of
Abraham "helping God out" and not trusting Him to work it out, he
caused the "birth" of a heathen, Jew-hating nation and the bedrock of
the Muslim faith. The result of Abraham's actions were very catastrophic but he
did not even live on this earth to see the complete unfolding of his bad
decision. I wonder if we live to see the complete results of our bad decisions?
I would like to
think that I am smarter than Abraham but I am not. I often want to put God
aside and fight my own battles and manipulate my own circumstances and make
everything "work out." I am slowly learning that I must let God
handle certain things that are out of my hands. There is a little "control
freak" in all of us, I suppose.
I think of songs
we sing in church like "I'm counting on God..." or "I believe,
yes, I believe..." We sing, "Not for a moment, did you forsake
me..." Here is another of my favorites, "I will walk with you,
knowing you'll see me through..."
I then turn
around and say to myself, "Well, I had better handle this because God is
not helping me here. Where are you God???" Do you think Abraham thought
the same thing? I am sure he did.
We can certainly
learn from his example there of what NOT to do. Usually, when we try to
manipulate God's plans and go ahead of Him the results are disastrous. Because
of God's grace, He can take our messes and restore us but the results, ruined
relationships and scars are still there from our sin.
Abraham ended up
with his son, Isaac, which God had promised him, but it did not change the fact
that Ishmael had been born and there were consequences.
2 Chronicles
20:15 says, "And he said, "Listen, all you of Judah...Thus says the Lord
to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed..., for the battle is not yours, but
God’s."
We can do what
the Lord requires of us, like be obedient and serve Him but HE must take care
of the "impossible" tasks in our lives. We cannot control God's
timing and His perfect will.
Proverbs 21:31
says, "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of
the Lord."
Lastly, One of my
favorite people in the Bible is Hezekiah. In 2 Kings we read of where the evil
Assyrians come to Jerusalem to lay siege to the city. There are 185,000 of them
and they are prepared to torture and murder everyone there. Hezekiah knows that
his army is vastly outnumbered and there is NO WAY they can defeat the
Assyrians. Hezekiah does not devise a clever battle plan but he prays all night
while the Assyrians are camped outside the gates of Jerusalem. When the morning
came all 185,000 of the Assyrians were dead in their tents. Hezekiah never
raised a sword.
God took care of
it! Always remember....The battle belongs to the Lord! He's got your back. You
don't have to run ahead of him. He can handle it.
Blessings!
Pam
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