Welcome! For the next few weeks, I’m sharing six posts, written
for a series on
The Story, and first posted
on the
Gloria Dei blog.
As I reread these posts, I’m reminded of the struggles the
men and women of the Old Testament went through, and what I can learn about
their faith and trust in God.
Faith, Trust, and
Hope
(First posted at Gloria Dei on September 19, 2012)
It seems God’s timing rarely matches the time frame we would
prefer. We’re an instant gratification society. From fast food to drive-thru
everything, we don’t like to wait. Does anyone besides me get impatient if the
internet is a few seconds too slow?
So, reading about Abraham and Sarah reminds me that the
patience to wait on God’s timing comes through faith, trust, and hope. But
better still is God’s grace for them as they struggled with impatience and took
matters into their own hands.
Abraham (known as Abram at that time) was 75 years old when
God told him to leave his country, his people, and father’s household, and go
to a new land, where God would bless him and make him into a great nation.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later
receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where
he was going. Hebrews 11:8 NIV
Faith, as defined in The
Story, is complete trust. True faith is much deeper than mere intellectual
agreement with certain facts—it affects the desires of one’s heart. (The Story pg. 14)
In Abraham’s lower story, he didn’t know where God was
taking him. He didn’t know how his obedience fit into God’s upper story, but he
didn’t need to know. Abraham trusted God and wanted to be faithful, so he
packed up and went.
Trust is the assured reliance on the
character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. (NLT Study
Bible, Tyndale)
Trusting
God is knowing that what He says will happen. We might not know when or how,
but we can be sure that God will always keep His promises.
Abraham trusted God, but the waiting and
longing for a child had to be awful. What did Abraham think every time he saw
the pain in Sarah’s eyes? How did Sarah respond when surrounded by the children
of family and friends, knowing that a family was not in her future?
Years later, God told Abraham again that he
would be the father of many. But Abraham still didn’t know when or how that
could happen, only that he had God’s word.
At some point during the wait, I would have
wavered between faith and hopelessness. I would have wanted to ask God, “How long God? I can’t do this anymore—it’s
too hard. Why did you tell me I’d have descendants when it seems impossible? Why
did you give me hope for a son when it’s not to be?”
Abraham said it more eloquently when the
Lord came to him in a vision…
But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me
since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of
Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no
children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Then the word of
the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your
own flesh and blood will be your heir.” He took him outside and
said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.”
Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Genesis 15:2-5 NIV
I can hear the
compassion in God’s voice as He answers Abraham. God knew his pain and lovingly
confirms that Abraham will have a son and be the father of many. And then God
goes a step further and makes a covenant with Abraham—a promise that only God
can keep.
When it all seemed impossible, Abraham had faith in God. He
trusted God. And His hope was in God.
Abraham hoped for a son. He desperately wanted a son. Just
like many of us desperately hope for or want something—a child, a spouse, maybe
a change in circumstances.
But I like this definition of hope…
Hope is the confident trust with the expectation of
fulfillment. (NLT Study Bible, Tyndale)
Hope in God is
knowing He will be there, no matter what.
Hope is knowing He
will act in our best interest, according to His grand upper story.
Hope is knowing that
when life hurts, we’re not alone—God will never leave us.
God kept His promise to Abraham. 25 years after God first
told Abraham he would be a father, Sarah had a baby boy named Issac. Abraham
was 100 years old and Sarah was 90.
Abraham and Sarah couldn’t see past their lower story, just
like you and I can’t see past ours. There are times when the story eventually
turns out the way we want it to, as it did for Abraham and Sarah. But sometimes
God has something different in mind. Through faith, trust, and hope, we have
the assurance that our lower story is part of God’s upper story…fulfilled His
Way and in His time.
In Christ,
Laura
