"Now the Lord said to Abram 'Go forth from your country, And from your relatives, And from your father's house to a land that I will show you.' (Gen.12:1). “And Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken". (12:4).
Hey Gang: I believe we could all agree that Abraham didn't
stagger in his faith and he did not spend a great deal of time in the
"considering not" column. Rather, he was "Fully persuaded that,
what (God) had promised, He was able also to perform" (Romans
4:21).
And what do I mean "considering not"? When God
spoke to him with instructions, note in each case, the order was followed by "…he went forth as the
Lord had spoken". As I thought about the subject
"considering not" I began to realize how very unique and special
Abraham was. When
Moses was told to go to Egypt and confront his old boss, Pharaoh, he certainly
did some lengthy, serious considering. And Jonah was the ultimate example
of one who "considered" and then followed with a very bad action
plan.
The question: How serious is the Lord about our believing Him in
the face of the impossible? My wife has often said, if I told her to jump
off a cliff she would do it because she had confidence I had a plan that would
save her.
We find an answer to the above question in the story of
Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. Zacharias was visited by an
angel who told him that his wife, Elizabeth, would give birth to a special
child. But Zacharias and Elizabeth, his bride, were advanced in years -as
was Abraham and Sarah when they received news from an angel that they
were going to become parents. Like Abraham, Zachariah
refused to believe it. In other words, God's promise alone was not
enough for him.
Zacharias reply to the angel, "You have got to be
kidding!" "How will I know this or
certain?"
Have you ever asked that
question when God tells you to go and see the old crank next door and invite
him to church? Are you sure Lord, I mean - Wow. I wonder how many
ministries go by the board because the receiver of the vision is over awed and
anchored on the "How will I know" question. We do tend to
forget that God opens doors, but He also has the power to close doors when we miss
read the signs and head down the wrong road. It is not our task to try
and figure out what God's plan is for our lives- but to follow in obedience to His command and
"GO".
Zac's doubts did not cut it with the Lord. The angel told
him, "And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until
the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled in their proper time." (Luke 1:20)
The message is clear, God expects us to believe Him when He
speaks, even when it seems impossible. I can say, without reservation, it
was those times when, indeed,things seemed impossible that when victory comes,
it is a true faith-builder for the next trip through Alligatorville.
Soooo, my friends and neighbors, I need to include Peter's
words before closing this. He wrote, "Therefore,
those who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a
faithful Creator in doing what is right" (I Pet. 4:19).
I talked with a
young lady recently who informed me she was waiting to see where the Lord would
take her. I informed her she would probably be waiting the next time I
saw her and years beyond. God does not tend to power the engines of
those who stand waiting for the next movement of God to come and sweep them
along- but does tell us to “Be Still and know that I am God.” (Ps
46:10) There is a difference in ‘waiting on God to move’ and ‘being still’ to
hear his leading!!
Blessings,
Gramps
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