The Possible Impossible

I've been on a one year bible plan since the start of January and I've never done it before. But because its early on in the year I've been reading through Genesis and it's really been hitting me how personal the relationships are between "the LORD" and the people he chooses to make covenants with (mostly Abraham, but also Noah and Isaac too). What also hit me was the promises that the LORD makes to them and how we tend to take for granted the patience and faith that would've been required for them to believe.

Like Abram. This mess is crazy. God tells him his descendants will be as numerous as there is sand on the beach or as there are stars in the sky (this was before light pollution btw o_0).

And sure, the LORD spoke, so of course it's gonna happen right? But what was in front of Abram? What could he see?

• He was 75 when he first heard this promise (granted his life span was 175 years but according to scripture, at that time, 175 was a "ripe old age").
• He already knew that his wife, Sarai couldn't have children
• 10 years- he still didn't have a child from Sarai. He took the LORD's promise into his own hands and conceived Ishmael through Sarai's servant. To this heir the LORD said NO.
• 24 years- the LORD appears to him again saying the same promise. This is when He changes Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's to Sarah (and homeboy had to get circumcised at the age of 99 as well as every one of his male servants).
• Sarah doesn't believe she can have a child and laughs at the idea, just like Abraham did (funny how God named Isaac and his name means "he laughs"). God says next year it'll happen.
• 25 years- Isaac is born
• 25 years + "some time later"- Then God asks Abraham to kill his son Isaac and use him as a burnt offering for Him.... I don't even..... man..... Of course God was testing Abraham and told him to stop and He provided a sacrificial animal. But He definitely waited until the very last moment. I woulda been like..................................................... I don't even........

I've been hearing people say that we tend to romanticize blind faith a lot and that that's not exactly what God asks for. I didn't really understand that until now but through reading Abraham's story again I'm starting to get it. I mean Abraham was real with God. Sure he believed in God's promises. But when he was struggling with them he made it known and God spoke further.

Some time later, the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great." But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since you've given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir." Then the LORD said to him, "No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir." (Genesis 15:1-4)

Then the LORD told him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession." But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?" (Genesis 15:7-8) (15:9-16 is God's response if you want to read it. It's kinda long tho.)

Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. "How could I become a father at the age of 100?" he thought. "And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?" So Abraham said to God, "May Ishmael live under your special blessing!" But God replied, "No-Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant" (Genesis 17:17-19)

I don't know that preachers ever show this side of Abraham. He's still a man. That's all he offers up to God and that's all that the LORD asks.

Even for Isaac after Abraham passed away:

• His wife that the LORD hand picked for him through divine appointment was also barren (o_0)! Really God? That sounds pretty counter intuitive for making descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky...
• But Isaac was persistent in prayer "Isaac pleaded with the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The LORD answered Isaac's prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins."

Has God ever told you anything about your life? Like a promise for the future? a detail? an abstratction?
Maybe it was through prayer? other people? getting in your bible? What have you done with that promise? Do you believe it? Have you been expectant towards it? Do you doubt it?

This story here's proof that you can't judge how God is working based on what things look like. It can only be based on His words, His covenant. God fulfilling this promise for Abraham was crucial for the expansion of His name throughout the known world by the nation of Israel. But he still chose to use two barren women as child bearers and throw some other stuff in the way. Why? Who knows?

Maybe we doubt because we're not being real with God about it. We should tell Him when something seems too big for us or we feel like something's impossible. He knows anyway, it's not like we're fooling him to look faithful. It wasn't until after Abraham told the LORD his beef with His plan that "Abraham believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith."

Maybe my faith isn't as strong as it could be because when I'm not real with God about what I don't understand, I'm honestly not being dependent and vulnerable.