He Gives Us a New Name
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Genesis 16:2
So she said to Abram, "The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
I don’t know about you, but I have certainly been where Abram (Abraham) and Sarai (Sarah) are when they decide to take matters into their own hands! I think to myself that surely God didn’t mean for things to take so long. Or surely my plan will work out to the same end, but will be much less stressful/painful. In other words, I think I can outsmart God! I think I am smarter than He and that I have more power and wisdom, too. My way will reap the same result, it will just be faster and much more efficient and everybody wins, because what God planned has been fulfilled.
Now, Abraham is attributed as a man of great faith. Well, what’s going on here in this conversation between Abraham and Sarah? He is being human. He either thought he misunderstood God’s intentions, or wanted to be in charge. He wanted to make Sarah happy, and really, desperately, wanted a son. And God was taking His own sweet time in delivering on the promise! What could possibly be wrong with “helping God’s plan along?” Surely He believed he new best how God’s promise was to be fulfilled.
Do you ever find yourself in this situation? I certainly do. Even when God sends me unmistakable signs and reveals truths to me that could not possibly come from anywhere else, I charge on a head. I second-guess myself (actually, I second-guess God). I go part way, and when things don’t unfold in the way I think they should, in the way I envisioned, I take over. I’m reminded of Peter in the boat when he sees Christ on the water. He obeys Jesus by stepping out of the boat – but he takes his eyes off of him and allows his humanity to send him into the drink! We trust and obey—until we decide we’ve trusted and obeyed enough, don’t we?
Christ set the example for us of exactly how much of our lives we are to turn over to God: all of it. He taught us how much of our desires and wants we are to relinquish to our Heavenly Father: all of them. Jesus showed us that absolute, complete, sincere and intentional submission and obedience to God is the model we are to live by. He died on the Cross to make sure we understood, once and for all, what is required. Then He did something even more unbelievable! He rose from the dead to encourage and bless us with the promise of becoming new creatures in Christ. He even gives us new names: children of God!
No, God didn’t prevent Ishmael from being born to Sarai’s maidservant. But He told Abraham that the son who would be born to Sarah is the one who would fulfill His promise and become the first born of the new covenant. What an amazing, loving, gracious God we worship! He allows us to run around acting like we are in charge, and then when His timing has come to pass, He fulfills His perfect plans for us in spite of our defiance! Wow!
My prayer today is that you will wait with me for God’s perfect timing in your life. And that you will rejoice that His will for us is fulfilled in spite of ourselves.
Mary
