PATIENCE 3 - Abram Tries to Shorten his Wait

Patience 3 - English files  

Geduld 3 - German files

Devotional Thoughts about Abram’s Wait

Abram may have thought that since God had singled him out and led him to Canaan, He would immediately start building for him the family necessary as the base for the nation He’d promised to make—especially since Abram had gotten quite a late start at the age of 75.

But it didn’t happen that way. As year after year went by, there was no pregnancy, no child. Whenever Abram and Sarai thought or talked about it, questions must have plagued them: “Where’s the child?”, “Isn’t God going to make good on His promise?” and “Did we just imagine it all?”

It’s interesting that Sarai was the one who came up with the idea of a surrogate mother, because the practical reality turned out to be intolerable for her as well as for Hagar. The family lived on in discord, and the child in their midst was not the progenitor of the promised nation.

One year out, God changed their names, instituted circumcision and spoke concretely of the coming baby, even naming him Isaac. Both Abraham and Sarah laughed, unable to imagine the fulfilling of their dreams at this late date. But sure enough, Isaac was born at the promised time, and they laughed for joy.

By the time God directed that Isaac be sacrificed, Abraham seemed to have learned enough through his waiting to be able to trust that God would care for the implica­tions of His promise (see Hebrews 11:18,19), and of course He did.

We humans hate waiting and are slow to see its benefits in our lives and in the circumstances around us. Lord, please help me to trust You and to wait for Your help.

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If you're interested in the lesson files, simply click on the appropriate link above to download them in the desired language. See the Informational Pages in the right column for more about the lesson series. The next post and the next lesson will be the fourth in the topic Patience.