Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Jan 7th, 2024 Waiting on the Will of God

Today’s Passage – Genesis 20 – 22 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click hereto view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 13 – 14; Psalms 31 – 35; Proverbs 7

Read the “0107 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34

Read previous posts from today’s passage – “The Whole Truth“, “When God Withholds You,” and “God Will Provide Himself a Lamb“

“1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. 6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. 7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.” (Genesis 21:1-7)

God had been promising Abraham that he would give him a son for a long time. Abraham was seventy-five years old when he left Haran, after his father Terah died. At that time God had promised Abram that He would make of him a great nation and when he arrived in Canaan, God promised that He would give Abraham’s “seed” the land (Genesis 12:1 – 8) God reaffirmed the promise in Genesis 13:15 after Lot had departed from him and there He promises Abram that He would make his seed as “the dust of the earth.” God reminded Abraham of the promise again after Abram rescued Lot from the four kings who attacked Sodom (Genesis 15:1 – 6), and there we are told that Abraham believed the promise:

“4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.“ (Genesis 15:4-6)

Abram and Sarai get out of the will of God and try to make God’s will happen by allowing Abram to sleep with Sarai’s Egyptian handmaid Hagar, which resulted in the birth of Ismael. Abram was eighty-six at this time, which was eleven years after God had originally promised him a son. I am sure Abram and Sarai thought that God surely was not going to give them a child through Sarai as she was beyond the normal child-bearing years. She would have been seventy-six at this time. So, they figured that God must have meant that a surrogate mother would give Abram the promised “seed.”

Practical Point – Make sure that you have clarity from God before you make any major decisions. Do not just assume that you know what God wants. God will clearly reveal His precise will to you through the Word of God, prayer, godly counsel, and often – waiting on the Lord!

In Genesis 17, when Abram is ninety-nine, God reaffirms that Abram will have a son through Sarai. By the way, it is here in this chapter that God changes Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning “father of many nations,” and Sarai’s name to Sarah, meaning “princess.” Abraham laughs when God verifies this because it would surely be miraculous for Sarah to bear children at her age and after she had been barren. I think that Abraham might have been a little upset about the fact that God was not considering Ishmael to be part of His promise (Genesis 17:18).

In Genesis 18, God appears to Abraham again with two angels, and this time has dinner with him. Here God once again reaffirms his promise regarding Sarah bearing a child, and this time it is Sarah that laughs. God rebukes her for being faithless and Sarah denies that she laughed, but the Lord obviously knew even the secret thoughts of Sarah’s heart.

In our passage today in Genesis 21, Abraham and Sarah finally receive the long-awaited child of promise, Isaac. It was just twenty-five years after God had originally promised him. Abraham was now one hundred years old, and Sarah was ninety-one.

Here is my thought. God rarely operates on our timetable. Sometimes we expect immediate blessing from the Lord and instantaneous answers to our prayers, but God does not often work that way. I have been a pastor here at Jersey Shore for twenty-two years now. I honestly expected God to move a lot faster than he did in the ministry here. I thought we would have had thousands of people and many large buildings by now, but it did not work that way, and it probably will never happen as I anticipated. God is doing what He wants to do, and He is doing it in His time. We just have to be faithful to keep doing what God has called us to do and allow Him to bring the increase when and if He is ready. I have discovered that the Christian life, and particular the ministry, is not about the short-term but instead about the long haul. God has blessed and is continuing, and will continue to bless in His time.

How about you? Had you been waiting for God to do something for a long time and have since given up hope. Unless God has revealed to you a change of plans, just keep praying and keep serving, and be patient as you wait for God to do His will.