Roller Coaster Faith
Chuck and Sharon W. Betters
TODAY’S TREASURE
And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be”(Genesis 15:5).
God had already kept many of His promises to Abraham: he was now wealthy, his name was at last respected, and his family had been protected. God had also promised to make him into a great nation and give him a homeland (Genesis 12:2; 15:4–7). Abraham asked God how He planned to accomplish all of this.
Rather than rebuking Abraham for these questions, God took him for a walk under the stars and affirmed His promise that old as Abraham was, he would nevertheless have his own physical heir:
Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. . . . So shall your offspring be (Genesis 15:5).
Abraham still had his doubts, and he did not hesitate to ask how he could believe God (v. 8). But instead of rebuking Abraham for doubting His promises, God provides Abraham with a sign and a seal that He would keep His word.
God ordered Abraham to prepare a sacrifice by cutting sacrificial animals into pieces and laying the pieces in two parallel rows on the ground. This ancient Eastern ritual was actually a formal contract. Whoever walked between the two rows of pieces was legally required to fulfill all the terms of the contract, even if it cost him his own life. In this unfolding drama, God legally sealed the terms of His contract—or covenant— with Abraham by walking down the center of the sacrifice Himself in the form of a burning pot. Then Abraham knew that God would accomplish all that He had promised (cf. Genesis 15:8–21; Hebrews 6:13–19).
Hebrews 6:13–19 declares that, in this remarkable scene, the God of Glory since He could swear by none higher than Himself, swore by His own head to fulfill all the terms of the covenant. In so doing, He not only addressed Abraham’s need but ours as well. This is undoubtedly the most significant turning point in Abraham’s life. But this spiritual high point, sadly enough, was to be short-lived.
Abraham, even though back in close fellowship with God, nevertheless fell victim once again to acting expediently rather than depending on his Lord. His wife, Sarah, concluded God had never actually said the child of promise would come from her body, only that the seed of promise would come from Abraham. Therefore, since she was already well beyond child-bearing years, Sarah offered her Egyptian slave, Hagar—another “aftereffect” of their infamous flight into Egypt—to Abraham to serve as a surrogate mother. Abraham, thinking once again God might need a little “help” to fulfill His great promise, agreed to this plan.
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
Hagar conceived and immediately began to taunt Sarah for her infertility. Sarah, in turn, proceeded to blame her husband for the entire mess, conveniently forgetting this plan had been her idea in the first place. And Abraham failed to deal with the situation honorably and justly; instead, he allowed Sarah to mistreat the pregnant slave girl. Finally, Sarah treated Hagar so badly that the young woman fled for her life.
God, however, met Hagar in the desert with great grace and tenderness, and He promised to strengthen her. He also promised Hagar that her child, to be named Ishmael, would bear descendants of his own that would be too numerous to count. Ishmael would be an ever-present reminder that “God hears,” for this is what the name means. Not only did God hear Hagar, but she also claimed that God saw her. Thus did Sarah’s Egyptian slave give God the name, “You are the God who sees me” (Genesis 16:13). At God’s direction, Hagar went back to Sarah and bore her son, Ishmael. For thirteen years, Abraham and Sarah treated this “wild donkey” of a boy as the child promised to them by God.
But God had a better plan. When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God once more confirmed His covenant as an everlasting promise for generations to come. He commanded Abraham to use circumcision to identify his descendants as belonging to God (Genesis 17:11), and He planned to bless Sarah with a son so that she would be the mother of nations and kings of peoples would come from her (15–16). Abraham couldn’t believe it. He laughed at the very thought of two senior citizens—both “as good as dead” (Hebrews 11:12)—actually bearing a child. God, however, was serious:
Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. . . . My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year (Genesis 17:19, 21).
But Abraham’s joy at such news was short-lived. What was he to do about Ishmael? Abraham loved him. God promised Abraham that though He would care for Ishmael, it was to be through Isaac, the son Sarah herself would bear, that the promises of the covenant would be realized. (Adapted from Treasures of Faith pages 90-93)
PRAYER
Oh God, give us supernatural strength to wait on You, to resist the temptation to write our own story, to choose our own way where we feel in control rather than trusting You to do the impossible.
I hope these devotionals will whet your appetite and encourage you to dig deep into Hebrews 11 on your own. They are adapted with permission from P&R Publishing. P&R is offering Treasures of Faith for $3.00 each! And the Leader’s Guide for $2.00. Supplies are limited.
More free resources for help hope & healing:
Treasures of Encouragement, Women Helping Women
By Sharon W. Betters
Treasuresofencouragement.org Learn how God sends treasures of encouragement to help turn hearts toward Jesus and how the beauty, privilege, and power of biblical encouragement is a means to invite others to trust the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness in the mundane moments and especially in the broken places of life. Free supplemental resources.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sharon W. Betters is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
For more from Daily Treasure please visit MARKINC.ORG.
Originally published Thursday, 08 June 2023.
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