Jumping the gun

I am really bad about letting my mind run away with me. As T. is talking, I often try to anticipate what he is going to say and even go so far as to interrupt and try to finish his sentence. If you have known me for long, I am sure I have done this to you as well, I apologize. It is horribly rude and really very ridiculous.

I used to wish that God would let me know what the future held for me. I would say that I could be much more obedient if I just knew what was coming and could be sure to follow the right path. Looking back I can see that any time He did give me even a whisper of a suggestion of His plan I would grab it up, yell thanks over my shoulder, and run like a headless chicken in the direction I thought I should go. So wrong! God would allow me to work myself into a mess, bail me out, take me backwards and start me in the right direction.

Abram and Sarai had a little difficulty in this area as well. God was bringing them to the land that one day He would give to their descendants. Abram asks for a sign, this is very understandable because he was getting older and there was still no child. You can hear his anguish as he replies to God's proclamation of being Abram's reward...What can you give me when I have no children? Thank you Lord for not striking us dead when we are blinded by our own misery. So God comes and walks between the parted animals as a covenant and a promise. Then ten years pass. Nothing. No son, no heritage, no hope.

What is man to do when God gives a promise and then seems to let the dream die. He either takes you in a seemingly different direction or lets you stay still for an unutterably long time. Sarai jumped in with a plan. From a human standpoint her plan was honorable and self-sacrificing. She offered her husband another woman. Her heart was to see the promise fulfilled. And so Ishmael was born, a wild donkey of a man who would ever be a war with those around him. He would be blessed with many descendants and they would never stop fighting. The sons of Ishmael and the sons of Isaac will still be fighting when Christ returns.

In their attempt to force the will of God, Abram and Sarai set up a fight that would haunt all of humanity.

This is a humbling reminder to me to be very careful to allow God to bring about His promises in His perfect way and timing. To embrace patience and faith when all seems dim and dying. To die and find myself saved.