Following in Abraham's Footsteps...

And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.     Genesis 15:6 NLT

For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”     Romans 4:3 NLT

In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”     Galatians 3:6 NLT

And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.     James 2:23 NLT

The stories of Abraham are encouraging me in this new year. As I have been reading through Genesis, I have taken a fresh look at Abraham’s life, and it’s very different from what I have traditionally thought about the Jewish patriarch.  And while the things I’m noticing in Abraham’s story are not necessarily what I would consider “good,” the stories give me hope.

Abraham, on multiple occasions in his life, gave up waiting on God and took matters into his own hands.  But the Scriptures say that he “believed God.”  Abraham is recorded as having lied on multiple occasions.  And yet the Bible calls him “righteous.”

As an imperfect human floundering in the crazy, mixed-up world of 2023, I find this incredibly encouraging.

For months I’ve been struggling to get much writing done. I’ve been struggling to get much of anything done, really.  My life has basically come down to work, eat, sleep, repeat.  That’s it. I’ve been weary and discouraged, and honestly pretty grumpy much of the time.  Life hasn’t been going according to my hopes and dreams, and while I’ve continued to go through the motions of my long-held spiritual disciplines (church attendance, daily reading of Scripture, Bible study and devotional reading), I’ve been feeling a little lost lately.

Lost and unqualified.

Which is what I can imagine Abraham must have felt like at times. He had gone where God told him to go, but he was just kind of wandering around.  Then there was famine where Abraham was living, so he went to Egypt to find food.  And when he got there, he lied about his wife’s identity.  In spite of this, God protected and even blessed Abraham.

Even as God was making promises to Abraham, Abraham was doubting God (see Genesis 15:1-3).  And yet, in the same conversation where Abraham expressed unbelief, Scripture says that “he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

What?!

The unbelieving doubter suddenly - and temporarily - believed God and was called righteous!  In the very next chapter of Genesis, we find Abraham trying to fulfil God's promise on his own terms and in his own timing instead of waiting and trusting God.

I get it. absolutely.  Waiting is hard!

For me, there's always a struggle to balance believing with working.  Because I don't know how God's planning to do what He's going to do, I feel compelled to figure it out.  I'm ready to do my part!  But when my part is just to wait, I'm not good at that.  

A big part of that is that I'm not always sure if what I think God is saying is really what He's saying.  God came to Abraham in visions and dreams and sent angels with specific details of His plan.  God appeared to Abraham (Genesis 12:7, 17:1) and spoke very clear instructions to him.  I'm not having visions and dreams and visits from angels.  I'm reading the Word, which is very specific on some things but not so much on matters like, "Should I keep working at this job?" or, "What's next?"  I pray, but I'm not getting the kind of audible answers it seems Abraham received.

And I know that I struggle with uncertainty (which is basically just unbelief).  I have quite the collection of unfinished essays, posts, articles, and books that I've deemed myself unqualified to write.  I have believed that to be used effectively by God, I needed a stronger faith and less doubt.  But as I look at Abraham's life through fresh eyes, I am seeing that there may yet be hope for God to use even someone like me.

Maybe you can relate.  If you've ever been impatient with God as I have, trying to work out His plans in your own time and way, it would seem that we are in good company.  

Throughout Scripture, we find the Creator of the universe identifying Himself as "the God of Abraham." How awesome is that?!  God did not abandon or forsake or disqualify Abraham for all of the times he lied and doubted and tried to control his own destiny.  Instead, He continued to care for Abraham, leading him, speaking to him, and fulfilling His promises.

So today, let's walk in the encouragement that our God is with us, and He is working out His plans.  Our missteps and impatience may yield unfortunate consequences for us, but they do not disqualify us, nor will they stop His purposes from being accomplished in our lives.

..Just a thought...