When you get a divine Go—there’s always something you have to leave behind. What does God give Abraham in return? A promise—a 3-fold promise—to make him the father of a great nation; to make him famous; to make him a blessing to all peoples of the earth. God, who lost his prized creation in the Garden of Eden, puts together a plan to get them back thru Abraham’s nation. But this is all rather complicated. Abraham now is 75 years old. His wife Sara is 65 years old. She has been living with the stigma and shame of being childless. No doubt they have offered sacrifices to every god and prayed to every idol they know. They’re too old and she’s sterile. But they got the Divine Go, so they go to establish a nation without being able to have kids. Every Divine Go has two parts. There are always two parts to God’s Go—faith and obedience. The writer of Hebrews 11:8 (NIV) says: By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. (You really won’t know where you going when you’re living by faith.) Hebrews 11:11-12 (NIV) And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, (I love that phrase) came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. God’s Upper Story at it’s best. Abe and Sarah must have had doubts about God’s Go to Danville—I mean Canaan. Children at our age? Whenever you get the Divine Go to step out in faith to do something, expect big excuses to surface. For Abraham and Sarah, “We’re too old. No kids; no nation.” Author Craig Groeschel says, “If you’re not dead, you’re not done.” Abraham and Sarah are 75 and 65 years old, and they will have to wait another 25 years till Isaac, their first child together, is born. If you’re not dead, you’re not done. Age or any other excuse is never a reason for someone to say no when God says go. If you’re not dead, you’re not done. If you’re alive, God has you alive for a reason. So what’s your excuse for not going? Check out these excuses in the Bible. Abraham tries to say no because he’s too old. Moses tries to say no because he doesn’t have the right talents. Jonah says no because he thinks he’s being sent to the wrong city. Timothy tries to say no because he’s too young. Paul tries to say no because he thinks his past has disqualified him. If you’re not dead, that’s a clue you’re not done yet. Put on your spiritual bifocals. Stop living the limited vision of your Lower Story. Look to God’s Upper Story. He has plans for you. But what if you don’t go? What if you don’t risk? What if you don’t try? What if you don’t say yes? You’ll miss getting to the promised land, you’ll miss seeing God’s Upper Story; you’ll miss out on God’s promises; you’ll miss out on God’s blessing and being a blessing to others. With every Divine Go, come big excuses, and big unknowns.
Posted on: Fri, 09 May 2014 00:55:59 +0000
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