Have you ever taught a lesson to someone else, and even as
you were preparing and teaching the lesson, you knew you needed that lesson
very badly for yourself, but realized that you were having trouble grasping it?
It's hard to teach under those circumstances. You feel like a hypocrite, for
one, and you might even doubt the words you're saying, even though you know deep
down that they're true. It can be discouraging, as you wonder how you can teach
a truth to others and expect them to get it when you as the teacher fall so
short, and you're probably frustrated with yourself for not being able to get
it. Those lessons taught to others can fall short of what they ought to be, but
frequently God still uses the preparation and teaching to reinforce His truth in
a personal way, both to the listeners and to the teacher. After all, His Word
is powerful and alive.
This week I had to teach a lesson on longsuffering to my
four- and five-year-old class. The lesson was on Abraham and Sarah as they
waited for their promised son. I started in Ur when Abraham was 75 years old. I
told the children about the promise God made to Abraham. "Abraham,
Abraham, I'm going to do something very special for you. I'm going to give you
a little baby boy, and then grandchildren and great-grandchildren and
great-great-grandchildren, and I'm going to make a whole new nation just from
your family."
I told how Abraham went from place to place, obeying and
worshiping God. Following the Biblical record, I emphasized each time God
repeated His promise. Abraham arrived in Shechem, and God told him,
"Abraham, Abraham, I'm going to do something very special for you,
etc." After mentioning Bethel and the south country and Egypt and the
return trip, I told how Abraham and Lot split up, and then God said,
"Abraham, Abraham, I'm going to do something very special for you,
etc."
When the son wasn't born, Abraham thought maybe his servant
Eliezer would be the answer, and then he thought the son of his servant Hagar
might be the answer. But God kept telling him, "Abraham, Abraham, I'm
going to do something very special for you, etc." By this time Abraham was
85 years old and had been waiting ten years already. About the third or fourth
time I repeated God's promise to Abraham, (and every time thereafter), this
cute little boy in my class reacted. His eyes got big and he kind of grinned,
and he said, "God keeps saying that!"
"Yes," I told him. "God kept saying it, but
it didn't happen yet. Abraham had to keep waiting." After the story of
Hagar, there is a 14-year gap. God came back again when Abraham was 99 years
old, and He said, "Abraham, Abraham, I'm going to do something very
special for you, etc." (Hear little boy saying, "He said it
again!") But this time God said it would happen in one year, and finally,
when Abraham was 100, baby Isaac was born. Abraham waited 25 years and finally
saw God's answer.
I returned home after teaching, and this lesson kept going
through my head. I want to see answers. There are some things that I have been
waiting on for so long, and sometimes I can't stand it any more. I feel like I
need to see an answer immediately or I will just fall apart. And I know that
God wants me to wait on Him and trust Him just like Abraham did.
Still my heart protests: "But I want to see something
happen." And God reminded me, "For we walk by faith, not by
sight" (II Corinthians 5:7). That's what Abraham's journey was all about.
Over and over again, the Bible tells us that Abraham believed God (Genesis
15:6, with NT quotations). If anyone had reason not to believe, it was Abraham.
He and his wife were far too old to have a child. He waited 25 years, beyond
what any hope could hold onto. As far as the biblical record goes, he went many
years without additional reminders of God's promise. In spite of all those
obstacles, Abraham staggered not at the promise of God. He considered not his
own nearly dead body, neither the deadness of Sara's womb (Romans 4:19-20).
Abraham's faith was strong (Romans 4:20), so he could keep
on waiting; he knew God would take care of him and do what He said He would do.
We may not have the same specific promises, but we do have promises, and we can
keep waiting too, because we know God will take care of us and will do what He
has said He will do. Just because we don't see the answers doesn't make God's
promises any less true or any less sure. God's truth is often too grand for us
to comprehend, and our faith is often too weak to cling to that truth, but none
of that changes God's faithfulness.
God says to us, (insert your own name): "Peggy, Peggy,
I'm going to do something very special for you. I'm going to meet all your
needs. I'm going to give you strength for all that you need to do, and I will
supply enough grace for every day. I'm never going to leave you, and I'm never
going to forsake you."
I don't know about you, but I stagger, sometimes a lot. God
keeps teaching me and reassuring me, but my faith is weak. I am not naive
enough to think or dishonest enough to say that I have learned this lesson
about waiting on God, but I am thankful that God keeps patiently working His
truth into my heart. Isn't God good to keep using His Word to remind us of
truth, to encourage us and strengthen us? Each time we are confronted with the
same lesson is another opportunity to grow and to let God work that truth more
thoroughly. Can I encourage you today to rest in His promises whether or not
you see the fulfillment as you desire? God won't fail.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holtmember at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com
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