Our lives our filled with journeys. Some are short and some are long, but all of them eventually come to an end. The memories I have about the journeys I’ve traveled are not so much about the places that I went, but rather the people that went with me.

I have considered myself fortunate to have had so many great companions for my life’s biggest adventures. I have loved the people that I have served with in ministry and cherish the memories that I have made with them. I am acquainted with the heartache that comes from inevitable partings after meaningful seasons with each other. The reality is, people move on, people get sick, and of course, people don’t live forever.

What I’ve found most difficult to adjust to is life after my companions are gone. I grow to be dependant on the people that God has placed in my life. This brings me to my sorrow for Abraham and anyone who has ever lost a spouse: I can’t imagine a life without my life’s partner, my wife.

Sarah has died, and she leaves behind her husband and her only son. Abraham is left to mourn and to try to figure out what he is to do next. Perhaps fitting, is the place where this happens.

If you recall, when Abraham and Lot parted ways, Abraham settled in Hebron…

So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord. – Genesis 13:18

This was to be the place that he would live. The place that God would promise him as far as his eye could see in every direction. As he sat there that day, in the shadow of Hebron’s hills, in the shade of his wife’s tent, in the presence of her body, he must have remembered what it was like the day he received that promise from God. He remembered what it was like to tell his wife, to celebrate with her, and to plan for their future together in the land.

All journeys must come to an end, but most difficult for him was the fact that Sarah’s journey was now over and his journey was to continue. Every journey of significance to this point had been made with her by his side and each one was made more special because he had shared it with her.

So how does God convince us to move on when we are dealing with grief or tragedy? I believe one way is by taking us back to where we started. It was God who made Sarah, then Sarai. It was God who ordained the circumstances of their meeting, of her becoming his wife and of them settling in Canaan. It was God who changed Sarah’s name, who promised them a son and delivered on that promise, and who ultimately provided a substitute sacrifice that would save his life.

On his last night at home before undergoing heart surgery, my grandfather was trying to convince my grandmother not to make the long trip to the town where the hospital was located. She told him that she didn’t want him to go along, to which he replied, “I’m not going alone.” She asked, “what do you mean?” My grandfather, whom until that point to my grandmother’s knowledge was not a believer, responded by saying “The same one who brought me this far will take me the rest of the way.”

My grandfather had been accompanied by grandmother for most of his life. Whether or not he knew he wouldn’t come home or even see her again, I am not sure, but I know this: at some point in his life, perhaps only in his final days, he became aware of who his true companion was in life, and this brought him comfort.

If you’ve lost or been parted from someone, take comfort that the one who brought you together will continue to walk with you and promises to reunite those who believe him one day.

It is obvious that there is one theme that runs throughout Abraham’s life. Faith. He is not always found faithful, but God is constantly challenging him and his faith can be seen growing with each victory that exists among the failures. Here though, God presents him with his greatest challenge.

First, note that Abraham might have had feet of clay when it came to faith opportunities earlier in life, but after being delivered and blessed by God many times, his faith has grown and is ready to be proven by fire. He tried to solve his problem of being heirless on his own when he and wife agreed that he would bear a son with Hagar, but after God rebuked him and then delivered Isaac to him through Sarah in their old age, it would appear that Abraham is on a totally different level of faith.

You would think that after waiting so long nothing could be more important to him than his son. However, something was more important – his faith. He believed that Isaac was truly a gift from God. He believed that God had some greater purpose for him than simply being an heir to provision. He would be an heir to a promise.

It would seem that Abraham’s decision to sacrifice Isaac was on such a level of faith that it is seemingly too far out of reach for us to grasp any hope of our faith ever being that deep. However we can’t miss the point Abraham’s faith as displayed here: he knew very little about what was about to happen. In fact, he may have even questioned whether or not he would be able to go through with it. Who knows how long he held that knife, tears streaming down his face, trembling at the weight of the challenge that was set before him.

Abraham didn’t know how he was going to perform, and that is the point. He knew only that he could trust in God, if not himself.

And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. – Genesis 22:7-8

God will provide. What if we don’t have the strength? God will provide. What if we get lost and don’t know what to do? God will provide. What if we can’t provide? God will provide.

I can’t imagine the number of questions that must have raced through Abraham’s mind as he marched his only son up that mountain. What I can imagine, is that only God knew what it would be like. In fact, this moment in the Bible was to set the stage for the day when God would march his own son up Calvary’s hill, not as one to be saved, but as one who would be the sacrificial lamb for all mankind.

Interestingly Abraham places the wood on Isaac’s back. The element of wood symbolizes humanity or man. Isaac bore this symbolic material up the hill to the place of sacrifice. Isaiah 53 paints a similar picture of the Messiah…

“Surely he took up our pain, and bore our suffering…he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” – Isaiah 53:4,12

Christ bore our sin upon his back. Isaac is the picture of Christ marching up the hill, and then the picture of man upon the altar, when a substitute is found, or better yet provided so that neither Isaac, nor anyone else who believes in his name should ever perish, but rather have everlasting life. Thank you father, for providing for my freedom with the blood of your son.

 

If there is a theme in Abraham’s life that keeps coming up it is submission. Submitting to others is something that he seemed to have no problem with, and it seems to have brought him favor his whole life.

He was in submission to God. Only a couple of chapters before God made a covenant with Abraham and that covenant on Abraham’s side was signified by circumcision. As an adult, he and all his men were circumcised. He circumcised his son Isaac upon his birth as well. Abraham’s faithfulness was rewarded by the fulfillment of God’s side of the covenant – to bless him and his offspring for generations.

He was in submission to his wife, Sarah. Here in the beginning of chapter 21, we find that Sarah is distraught by Ishmael, the son of Hagar, who mocked Isaac at a party in his honor. She asks Abraham to remove both of them from the protection of their home. Perhaps there was even more to it. Perhaps Sarah couldn’t stand the sight of Hagar for having a child with her husband and had been fuming years with this event being the straw that broke the camel’s back. Abraham was troubled, as I’m sure he didn’t want to subject Hagar and Ishmael to hardship, but out of respect for his wife and to protect his family, he reluctantly sends them away. Abraham is blessed for this submission though, as God promises to look after Hagar and Ishmael, thus relieving Abraham of his guilt.

Finally, we see another type of submission result in prosperity for Abraham when he meets with King Abimelech. Abraham was always in submission to the authorities of the land. Admittedly sometimes to a fault, but overall, we must assume that his general submission to their rule was God-honoring. We can say this, because of the words of apostle Paul…

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. – Romans 13:1

This is a difficult verse to hear in America. We tend to be proud of the battles that we’ve fought and won for our freedom and with good reason. It would be inappropriate to say which of our wars were just and which ones weren’t. The wars that we are perhaps most proud of, however, are the ones that have resulted in the rights that we all share today, among them, the right to overthrow our own government.

Perhaps there are times when this kind of thing honors God. Perhaps an evil ruler should be removed, and outright oppression should not be tolerated. However, a general disposition of defiance to government and the authorities that lead them is not right. The leaders of this world have been ordained by God for some purpose or another. Jesus never taught about overthrowing the state, but did say something about rendering to Caesar what is due to him. One might suggest that this means pay every dime that you owe in taxes.

Even in the most ungodly segments of our culture – like the American government, for example – God is still working. In the part of our lives that lack most in spiritually – like politics – God can still teach us something.

Submission to authorities teaches us to trust that God is ultimately in control. So let’s get right down to it: what does this mean practically? You might ask, “what exactly do you want us to do, not speak up in politics? Not join political parties? Not run for office?”

Of course not. In fact, what you see in Abraham’s life is that God used his submission to bring about change in the government’s position on things. Abraham had shown over years to be a man who respected Abimelech, so the King meets with Abraham as he is gaining influence to work out some sort of mutual understanding. Abraham uses this platform of influence and brings the King up short on what would appear to be a civil matter about the local water supply. He is able to persuade Abimelech to reverse course on this particular action and the King moves his entire army out of the land as a result.

So how do we know when it’s time to take action? I will leave some of those questions up to you and let you prayerfully consider them. I’d rather start with this: as Christians, we should not speak badly about our president or other elected officials. We should pray for them. I’d even take a one-for-one deal at this point. For every time that you think badly of, or discuss in a negative way about, or post on Facebook your displeasure toward our elected officials, you have to say a prayer for them. AND you have to do it in the same audience. If it’s just you thinking badly about them, say a private prayer. If you’ve talked with someone badly about them, grab that same person or another church member and invite them to pray with you. Or, you may find yourself in the latter camp, in which case your heartfelt prayer needs to be blasted across your social media channels without any ambiguity or sarcasm.

If we all committed to that kind of challenge, one of two things would happen. There would either be an overwhelming outpouring of prayer for our government officials or we’d all find much better things to talk about. Either way, God’s name would be more glorified in our lives and I think that’s kind of the point of all of this isn’t it?

The great theologian John Gill, in an exposition of this passage wrote…

Good men not only fall into sin, but have their relapses.

It is more than interesting to see how God uses our mistakes and misfortunes to achieve his divine purposes. What his purposes might have been in this story I doubt we can ever say for sure, as they could have far reaching consequences beyond what is even recorded in the Bible.

The question that I’d like to pose an answer to is this: When we are instructed to do something by God and we go our own way, what effect does that have on the purposes of God? The answer is, none.

Let me affirm that God gives us our own minds and we have the ability to make right and wrong decisions based on our moral consciences. However, God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 53:9), and not just in turns of importance, but in terms of supremacy. The little bubble of freedom that we have operates only inside of the larger sphere that is God’s will.

God has a plan and a purpose for everyone and everything. When we sin, we stand in opposition to his plan and when we do his will, we join him in accomplishing it. The book of Proverbs uses nice alliteration to put it this way…

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. – Proverbs 19:21

So now we finally take a look at the story of Abraham attempting to get along in society by telling everyone that Sarah is his sister…again. I believe that while God’s disapproval is not so specifically implied in the text, we can still assume its existence. He obviously does not approve in a very general sense, as he inflicts punishment on the man who takes Sarah for his own, both here and with Pharoah in Genesis 12.

In a specific sense though, I do not believe that God told Abraham to perpetuate this lie, which we find out here he has been telling everywhere he has been. I believe that God could have protected him against any unruly man, the way he protected Lot and his family the night they left their home. I believe that if Abraham would have trusted in God, God’s purposes could still have been accomplished and no harm would necessarily come to him. However, the fact that Abraham fails under pressure does not mean that God will. Rather, he uses the failure of Abraham to bring about his plan, thereby redeeming Abraham’s actions. In fact, he uses the situation to bring about his purposes in King Abimelech’s life as well.

When we decide not to follow God, it is not God’s will that suffers but rather our own happiness. When we sin, we stand in opposition to God and his laws and fall out of sync with our Creator. We find our life is abundant and fulfilling, however, when we align our heart and our way of life to God’s ultimate purpose in redeeming mankind.

Genesis 19 recounts one of the more sensational stories in the Bible. It’s about one righteous man’s life and a defining moment for him in the midst of a city full of wickedly evil people. True to the promise that he made with Abraham, God looks but does not find 10 righteous people in the city. However, he does protect Lot and his family from the coming destruction and allows them time to flee. This is, more than likely, what was most important to Abraham when he asked God to spare the city earlier: the life of his nephew, Lot.

I see in this passage the cost of following God. First, we notice that when God speaks and asks us to move, the time to do it is immediately. When we become parents, we quickly realize through our children that delayed obedience really is disobedience. We do see evidence of this in Lot, who even upon seeing the wickedness of the men outside and hearing a direct command from God, remains conflicted…

When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. (v.16)

Second, if needed God will drag us kicking and screaming to where we need to be. I have not found this to be universally true, but it may indeed be. The angels in the story grabbed Job’s hand and forced him to flee. I do not think it is above God to use events in our lives, especially painful ones, to drag us away from what we have built up to be more important than Him. When we put things ahead of God – money, comfort, even our children – we worship them above Him. If God has set us aside for a special purpose and this is the state he finds us in, He is not above removing those things have our heart’s devotion. If we aren’t willing to forsake all, He may indeed take all until we learn to trust Him.

“What hinders me from hearing is that I am taking up with other things. It is not that I will not hear God, but I am not devoted in the right place.” – Oswald Chambers

Third, we can’t look back. When you make the difficult decision to forsake all for the cause of Christ – not salvation, but rather a clear call to mission – the enemy will tempt you with thoughts of how much easier your life was before. He will describe a former life of plenty while you struggle in hardship. Lot’s wife longed for the comforts of home and lingered behind him, resulting in her own destruction. These are moments when our resolve must be strong. I am reminded of the story of Hernán Cortés, a spanish conquistador who set out to conquer the New World with about 500 men. Upon arriving, the hardship of life in a foreign land was apparent, so Cortés did what he thought was necessary: he ordered the men to burn the ships. Return would not be an option.

Sometimes following God means putting everything in perspective. Daniel outwardly defied the king’s decree. The disciples dropped their nets and left their families. The apostles risked their lives spreading the Word through missions work. It would appear at first glance that perhaps their decisions were made somewhat recklessly. Like they had failed to “count the cost”. However I would suggest that one who truly understands the ramifications of following God or not realizes that “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Our resolve today should be to follow God wherever he leads. In spite of the apparent risks, it’s still the safest place to be.

This chapter perhaps presents more questions than answers and therefore can be tough to gain any perspective from. First, we open with the fact that the Lord came to visit Abraham. He looked up, and saw three men standing nearby.

This is interesting because we are not told who these men are. First of all, are these men in addition to God, or do they represent Him? On one hand, one of the men tells Abraham that he will soon have a son, but then Sarah laughed and the text tells us that…

The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” (v. 13-14)

The text almost reads as if the same one who delivered the news also responded to Sarah’s laughter.

On the other hand, the men then set out from their meeting place and Abraham followed. The Lord again spoke, so perhaps God was indeed represented by these three men. Or, at least one of them. It seems upon a complete reading that while there were three men, perhaps only one spoke and was referred to as the Lord.

Then of course we have this strange chain of events which begs even more questions: first, the Lord looks upon the city of Sodom and indicates that he will go pay a visit to them…

Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether. (v. 20-21)

Then, the men head for the town but the Lord stays behind with Abraham…

So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. (v.22-23)

So what is going on? Are there four beings presents (the Lord and three men)? Are there only 3, with one who speaks? If so, did two men start toward the city with only the one staying behind? This seems to be the case in the beginning of chapter 19.

It is important that we engage with the scriptures in this manner. We must develop the habit of always asking questions. When we ask questions, we demonstrate an appropriate respect for God’s Word. We in effect treat is as “living” and assume that our unanswered questions do have answers. In that respect, we assume the infallibility of the scriptures. In essence, asking questions of God’s Word demonstrates our theology as much as anything.

It is easy to imagine why God would reveal himself to Abraham as three figures (though two of them may have been angels), as we understand that God reveals himself to man as three persons. It is also easy to imagine why only one would speak, as each person in the Godhead has distinct responsibilities. Little is known at this point in human history about God with respect to any literature written about Him. They do not as far as we know possess any scriptures. However, Abraham’s perspective is perhaps more in-tune than ours with who God is because God had direct contact with him from time to time. This passage says that God “communed” with him, which sounds like an absolutely amazing experience.

With all this in mind, I am willing to commit to these men representing God, and with that, I will relate the experience that Abraham had with God to the experience that God would desire with all of his people.

First, Abraham met with God and we can get a lot from the experience. Abraham recognized the presence of God and invited him to fellowship with him. We should do the same. Abraham prepared for fellowship by getting food ready and even asking those around him for help in respecting this holy time. Finally, it was a time of refreshment, beneath the shade of a large tree, with plenty of food to eat.

Second, God had a discussion with Abraham. Specifically, the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah was on the agenda. I do not believe that Abraham changed God’s mind in this exchange. I do, however, believe that God showed compassion for the things that were important to Abraham. He recognized the mercy and love in Abraham’s heart and it moved him. God is pleased when we worship in love more than burnt offerings.

I remain convinced that God’s Word is always profitable (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and that there are rich truths on every page. We just need to keep asking questions. Sometimes the text will provide answers. Sometimes it won’t…yet. The point of it all is that we always expect it to.

 

What do we do when we are broken from our failures? When the weight of our sin has driven us to depression. When things are crumbling around us and we know it is our fault? I, unfortunately, know too well the pain of Abram. I have sinned in ways that have hurt my family. I have failed in ways that have cost my church. What do we do when we realize that we have been the problem?

Our human tendency will direct us to curl up and hide from the world. We’ll even convince ourselves that this message from the enemy sounds like the Godly thing to do. I say that from the perspective of a leader. When I fail, my first thought is “my church deserves better”, or if at home “my wife can probably lead in this area better than I can so I need to give the reins to her”. Truth is, my wife probably is better than me at a lot of those things. And the enemy will remind me of that every time I fail. Why? Because I’ve been called to those positions. I never earned them. God specifically chose me in spite of my weaknesses so that his power would be even more evident in what He does through me.

It is during these times that I want to quit. I want to step down. I want to, but I know I can’t. Especially in my position. I will recognize that there are some cases where a pastor might fail, specifically in the area of public sin, and it leads to an appropriate resignation as his presence does more harm to the church. But as a general rule, if failure means you’re no longer able to serve, then who will lead our churches? If I fail and tell my men I’m no longer fit to lead, what will they assume if they find themselves broken by inadequacy one day?

This is the position that we find Abram. Abram has failed. Miserably. His shame is too great to bear. If he is going to make it, God has to restore him, and do it quickly.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” (v. 1-2)

Got it. Don’t make any mistakes. Good grief. So what is Abram’s response? He falls on his face. He can’t even lift his head from the weight of that command. Then God does what he does best…he restores Abram. If you’ll allow me to paraphrase, God says to Abram, “I have given you a new name. You are not longer to identify yourself as a failure. As for the future, I will make you the father of nations, I will make you fruitful, I will subject kings to you, I will establish a covenant between us.”

He then asks Abraham to make a one-time decision to commemorate this moment. He and all his household are circumcised. That seems like a huge ask, but don’t think of it in terms of the obviously uncomfortable experience. Think of it in terms of it’s fleeting nature. It’s not something that lasts, because it doesn’t have to. God doesn’t need Abraham to do something every day for him. God promises to fulfill his covenant and challenges Abraham to do two things. Call yourself by your new name and ceremonially cut yourself off from the rest of the world. You are set apart and you need to identify that, even if you don’t act like it.

What do we do when we are broken? Stop identifying ourselves as merely failures. We are, in fact, more than conquerors because in spite of our failures, the God of the universe fought and won the fight already. We also need to be set apart. What that means for us today is not the absence of sin, but that we stand in opposition to it. That we identify what it is and who is behind it…it is an attack by the enemy himself. An attack on us and an attack on one whom God loves.

When you are tempted, don’t focus on the fact that your flesh is weak. Focus on the fact that your enemy is attacking and wants to defeat you. That thought alone may give you the resolve you need. However, if and when you inevitably fail and are momentarily defeated, immediately rise and say “Where, O death is your victory? Where is your sting? I am more than a conqueror through Christ who loves me.”

As I read through Genesis 15, I am reminded that the heroes of our faith really lived out their faith when put to the test. This particular story reminds me of Solomon.

I have always felt that the story of Solomon was unique. Solomon was the found to be so righteous that Lord wanted to reward. He could have asked for anything in the world, he asks for wisdom. Wow, here’s a guy who has his priorities straight. In fact, Solomon wasn’t just asking for wisdom without purpose. A true man of God feels called to a mission and asks to be equipped for it. This is the heart of Solomon in his request. He doesn’t assume the throne, but rather understands he received it because of who his father was. He is young. Very young. Too young, in his mind, to lead God’s people, so his request is one of desperation. He has everything he could ever want, except something that money can’t buy. Wisdom. His request still brings emotion out of me and stirs my own passion…

You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people? (1 Kings 3:6-9)

I am in awe of this kind of dedication to duty and calling, and I recognize that this is shared by other heroes including Abram. Abram has just returned from battle. He has wealth and land and the promise of God on his side. God promises a reward for his faithfulness, but Abram can think of only one thing he wants – a child. Now, those who have had difficulty bearing children will recognize this desire right away, but again, Abram is not just thinking of himself. He doesn’t just want a child, he’s really concerned about the future. He is concerned that the people who depend on his inheritance will fall under the rule of someone that he is evidently not a fan of.

Abram wants a son so that the influence of his faithfulness won’t be limited to his mortality. He wants the opportunity to raise a child to fear God, as he does. God answers and says that not only will he have a child, but he will live a long life, and have the time he needs to instruct his son in the ways of righteousness. Make no mistake, the way of righteousness is the way of faith, not works. Abram is not young, but without hesitation, he believes, and God “counted it (his faith) to him as righteousness”.

Living lives worth of the calling is important, and it is important to resist the devil and his temptations. However, would you like to really please God? Start believing that He can do great things. Believe He is powerful and that He will deliver.

Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

As we become more conformed to the character of Christ, I pray that our faith gets better and not just our behavior. I don’t want to just live the Christian life. I want to experience life with Christ.