The Seed of Hope

The patience of Abraham.

Patience is a virtue that I’ve struggled with all of my life, and especially when I was younger. Come to think of it, both my impatience and the anger that accompanied it were prevalent constant companions until I began the spiritual journey that I’m on just over five years ago. Since then, I’ve learned (after a great deal of prayer, practice, and self-reminders) to be more patient in most every situation. I’ll be honest in telling you that waiting for God to open doors for me to share my heart with others in the area of ministry has become the last bastion of impatience in my life. I’m ready, willing, and able to go, but apparently He doesn’t think that it’s time. What’s He waiting for? J

Waiting…

I was doing some research the other day and read in the Bible that Abraham was 100 years old and his wife Sarah was 90 when she gave birth to Isaac, the son that God had promised them some twenty-four years earlier! Twenty-four years! Yeah, I know that God’s timetable and ours are totally different; a year for us is the blink of an eye for Him. Still. Twenty-four years? Can you imagine waiting that long for anything, especially a son? I’ve grown impatient after I’ve waiting for a traffic light to change from red to green after, what, maybe a minute?

You have to believe that having a son was a desire of Abraham’s heart long before he was seventy-six years old. Chances are that we could easily swap the numbers around and envision Abraham dreaming of having a son at the age of twenty-four and having to wait seventy-six years for his dream to become a reality. Wow…a lifetime of praying and waiting for the birth of a son.

What’s more is that God had told Abraham that he “would be the father of many nations.” Genesis 17:4 At the time, Abraham was 99 and Sarah was 89, and they were childless. God had to have been kidding, right? Surely the faith and patience of both Abraham and Sarah were stretched to the limit on more than one occasion during their excruciating wait. Still, they remained obedient to God; and God made good on His promise.

Of course, the story gets even better! One day, God came to Abraham and instructed him to take Isaac to the top of a mountain and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. God knew that He was putting Abraham’s obedience to the ultimate test, because of His love for us. What greater love is there than that of a parent for his child?

The next morning, per God’s instructions, Abraham took Isaac and set out for the mountain where he would sacrifice his son. Once there, Abraham built the sacrificial altar, arranged the wood, placed his bound son Isaac on top of the pile and prepared to sacrifice him by his own hand. At the last moment, an angel of God called out to Abraham and told him not to sacrifice Isaac. Because of his obedience, Abraham would be greatly blessed, as would all of his descendants.

And he was. God was true to His promise.

Consider your level of patience, especially as it pertains to God’s plans unfolding in your life. Do you have the patience to wait a year for a prayer to be answered? How about five years? Ten? Could you, like Abraham, wait for twenty-four years for God to make good on a promise?

I’ve been waiting now for five years. If I follow God’s timeline for Abraham, I figure that I have nineteen more years to wait. That’d make me seventy-eight! That’s okay; like I said, Abraham was one hundred years old when Sarah gave birth to Isaac. All I want to do is share what’s on my heart. Patience…

One more thought…

What if you are, or have been waiting for God to answer a prayer for you. You’ve been diligent in your petitions, and while your faith may have wavered a bit, it has never failed. What would your reaction to God be if He finally answered your prayers, then put you to a test that would take away that which you had been praying for all along?

Do you think that you’d pass the test?   

That’s a tough one, isn’t it?

When He calls...

The Bible doesn’t reveal much about the life of the prophet Amos other than what he reveals about himself when speaking to Amaziah, the high priest of Bethel.

Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of some sycamore-fig trees. But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ Amos 7:14-15

God decided to call on a herd-tender and tree pruner to be a prophet? Really?

Yes, really. Are you having a hard time wrapping your mind around the thought? If so, then consider the lives of a few other Biblical characters. Abraham, considered to be the religious patriarch and model of faith, was a wealthy trader and herdsman. The Apostles Peter, James, Andrew, and John were fishermen when Jesus chose them. Matthew was a tax collector. Luke was a physician. Paul was a persecutor of Christians when Jesus called on him.

It’s safe to say that none of these men knew that they were going to be called by the Lord to serve until they were. In all likelihood, neither did their mothers and fathers. Oh, their parents probably prayed or hoped for them to achieve greatness, as do most parents, but it’s doubtful that they knew the destinies that awaited their sons.

God did.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

God knew the calling that he had for each one of these men before they were born! It was part of His plan was for them to be herdsmen, traders, tax collectors, and persecutors of Christians before He called them. Peter, James, Andrew, and John were fishermen before Jesus recruited them to be “fishers of men.”

What we must remember here is that each of these men chose to answer the calling that God placed in their hearts. Believe it or not, each one of them could have said “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m perfectly content doing what I’m doing.” And God would’ve chosen someone else.

You have a calling in your life; everyone does, even the least likely of us. God has called you to serve Him. He has called you to greatness, and He’ll supply you with everything you need to answer the call. The love of the Father, the strength of the Holy Spirit, and the compassion of the Son are yours for the asking. Your calling may not impact lives in the epic proportions of Abraham, Peter, or Paul, but that doesn’t make it any less significant; not in the eyes of God, and certainly not in the eyes of the people in whose lives you will make a difference.

What you’re doing in and with your life at this very moment may have little or nothing to do with the plans that God has for you. It doesn’t matter; He knows the where, the when, and the why. You’re faced with two questions. The first question is not if He will drop a calling in your heart, but when? The second and most important question of the two is…

When He calls, will you answer?

Perhaps...

Psalm 103 is perhaps one of the most beautiful and meaningful chapters in the Bible. Psalm 103 is homage to God by David for who He is to us, and what He does for us.

1Praise the Lord, O my soul;

          all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2Praise the Lord, O my soul,

          And forget not all his benefits---

3-5who forgives all of your sins…and heals…who redeems…and crowns…who satisfies.

Perhaps you can read Psalm 103 and not be rocked by its message of hope, promise, and deliverance.

Perhaps you’ve never let your sins accumulate to the degree that you couldn’t imagine the possibility of having a relationship with God.

Perhaps you’ve never been the victim of dis-ease, either in the form of a physical ailment or of mental anguish.

Perhaps you’ve never spent your life in a mental “pit,” living a life with no hope for today or the promise of a better tomorrow.

Perhaps you’ve never left your dreams and ambitions for a fulfilling life behind with your childhood.

8The LORD is compassionate and gracious,

          slow to anger and abounding in love.

10he does not treat us as our sins deserve

          or repay us according to our iniquities.

Perhaps you’ve never known what it feels like to be loved unconditionally, or to feel true compassion.

Perhaps you’ve never committed an offense so grievous against God or man that you couldn’t possibly imagine being forgiven.

Perhaps you’ve never been able to wrap your mind around the belief that contrary to our tendencies, God doesn’t punish us according to the severity of our offenses.

Perhaps you’ve never understood or accepted that God will “turn-the-other-cheek” time after time after time for the same offense.

13As a father has compassion on his children,

          so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

Perhaps you’ve never figured out how the God that we are instructed to fear can be so compassionate, loving us the way a father loves his child.

Perhaps you’ve never realized that, unlike our earthly fathers, God the Father is perfect in every way. He’s always there to love us, to forgive us, to provide for us, and to lift us up.

Far too many of us today can associate with one or more of the “Perhaps” listed above. Sadly, some of us can relate to all of them.

Perhaps it’s time to reflect on God as you see Him; who He is, what He is, and what He does. Then, perhaps it’s time to take another look at Him through the eyes of Daniel.

Perhaps, like me, you’ll see God like you’ve never seen Him before.