By: Pastor Nate Roberts

(Lewiston Campus Pastor)

Genesis 26:4-5 says, “I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands.  And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.  I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees and instructions.”

There was just one problem with Abraham and his wife Sarah, she was barren, and to make matters worse she and Abraham were both very old.  Abraham had been given a promise from God, but Abraham couldn’t see that God would provide him and Sarah a son.  So like we all often do, we try and accomplish God’s destiny with our own strength.  Sarah had an Egyptian servant named Hagar, and she convinced Abraham that he could have sex with Hagar to produce a son for them, because Sarah couldn’t have kids (C’MON MAN!  Common sense would tell you that if you have sex with someone other than your wife, even when your wife knows about it, there has to be repercussions and there were, but that’s for another time.  You can never sin and just get away with it, God doesn’t work that way.).  So, Abraham agreed and Hagar soon became pregnant with a son and he was called Ishmael.  Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born.  As it was accustomed in that day that the eldest son would inherit the family responsibilities, Abraham sought God’s approval.  God didn’t give it and He reminded Abraham that Sarah would give birth to a son and his name would be Isaac.  By the time Abraham was 100 years old, Isaac was born, and God had followed through with his promise.

What is the importance of this story for us today?  It’s two-fold:

*Believe God will do what He says.

*Don’t try and accomplish God’s destiny for your life in your own strength.

1. God never breaks His promises with us.  Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, so he does not lie.  His is not human, so he does not change his mind.  Has he ever spoken and failed to act?  Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”  What’s awesome is that this same God works on our behalf and when He says something to you or I, you can believe that God will follow through and accomplish what He said He would do.
2.  I am guilty of this far more than I would like to and I always regret it.  When I try and do things on my own and take God out of the driver’s seat in my life, I step out from under His blessings.  Think of God’s blessings like an umbrella when it’s raining, so long as you stay under it you remain dry, but when you step out from under the umbrella you get soaked.  Word from someone who has been soaked quite a few times, stay under the umbrella.

I will leave you with this final thought.  There is one thing that has remained consistent throughout history; God will always do what He says.  It may not be when we think or when we want it to happen, but His promises have never failed.  So if you’re looking up at the stars like Abraham wondering when He is going to follow through with what He said, just remember that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.