Abraham's Wait is Our Wait

Sermon by Mark Johnson of Steiger Minneapolis

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great.”

Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. And He said to him, “I amthe LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.” He said, “O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?”
Genesis 15:1-8

A few months ago, I wrote about how Abraham’s call is our call. As I study Genesis, I continue to find parallels between the life of Abraham and our own. I think this passage contains another worth noting. First, let’s look at what happens.

The story begins with God telling Abraham not to be afraid. Now, usually, when someone tells you not to be afraid, it’s because you are afraid. There are some different opinions about why Abraham might be afraid at this point (the war in the previous chapter, or having God show up in front of him, for example), but I tend to think that the context implies that he is afraid because he still doesn’t have a child. He is in his seventies or eighties at this point, and there is still no sign of the promised offspring. God promised him amazing things, he left everything to follow God’s call, and yet he seems to be out of luck. But God says, “Don’t be afraid.”

Now, I would like to point out that these are the first words we read in Genesis that Abraham actually says to God.And they’re a complaint! He is bemoaning the fact that without a biological child, one of his servants will end up being the heir to his fortune. But God tells him to hold on, because he will have a child of his own.

And then something odd happens. God takes him outside and shows him the stars—the stars, that Abraham has seen every day for his whole life. And for some reason, something about the stars causes Abraham to believe God. He just believes. I want to point this out, because one recurring theme I have seen in Genesis is that God uses the ordinary stuff of the universe to bring about blessing and cursing, and here we see again that God is using parts of his own creation as a sign of his faithfulness to his promise. More on that later.

When Abraham believes, we read that God “reckoned it to him as righteousness.” It’s like God says, “That counts. Your faith… it counts as righteousness.” So I’ve been thinking about this whole “reckoning” thing, and I think I have an example that might help us understand it. See, I love my wife, but we’re both busy and need to be intentional about spending quality time together. Right? Quality time. Undivided attention. Well, I’ve learned that not everything I think is giving her my attention actually counts as giving her my attention. Like, watching the Simpson’s together… even though we’re in the same room… that doesn’t really count. It’s fun… but it doesn’t count. So what counts as undivided attention? Well, it turns out that it comes down to eye contact. I figured that out. Eye contact counts. And then I realized, that’s because eye contact is undivided attention. That’s what it is.

Well, I think the same is true with Abraham. Believing God is righteousness. Believing God is what we were created to do—to look to him instead of something else. Looking to him, believing him—that is right living. We were created to be righteous, and to look to him for everything. So faith counts as righteousness because faith is righteousness.

The main thing I wanted to talk about in this passage, though, is the idea of waiting. Just like Abraham’s call is our call, I believe that Abraham’s wait is our wait. See, Abraham received the promise from God, and he waited 25 years until it was fulfilled. We live in a culture where we don’t want to wait. We want it now. We want intimacy now. We want relationship now. We want character now. We don’t want to have to wait, and I think that our impatience has caused us to sacrifice depth for speed and efficiency.

Let’s think about this. When you are waiting for someone, you don’t take off and leave before that person shows up. Or if you’re waiting for a promise to be fulfilled, you don’t go somewhere else to get the thing you were promised; you wait until it is given to you. Right? Well, God says not to go without him or to go somewhere else to get what he promised. And what I really want to stress is that something happens in the waiting that is essential. If God is love and is motivated by love, then whatever happens during the wait is something we need. Something happens inside us while we wait. We begin to ache for what he promised. It hurts. We feel tempted to go somewhere else for it, but God says, “Feel the ache of waiting, and trust me.”

If we wait right, if we hang onto our faith, something will happen in us that will prepare us for whatever comes next. You need to know that all the waiting you have done has prepared you for this very moment in your life. It has hurt, you have felt the ache, you have wanted to see more than you’ve seen and experience more than you have experienced. But that ache has formed you and prepared you for this moment, and the waiting you are still doing is preparing you for what is next.

We are all waiting for relief from the ache we feel. Scripture even says that all creation groans, because it, too, is waiting. When Jesus comes back, he will make things right. We need to remember that, because sometimes we think that we’re just waiting for a temporary thing. We think that when we get that one thing, the ache will go away. But it doesn’t. Because the ache is deeper than anything we can get ourselves—deeper than any relationship can make go away, or anything else we might yearn for. The ache is for God to make things right, for the world to be righteous. And it’s for our own righteousness—to see God face to face so that we are like him. We were designed to be like him, and we ache because we’re not.

The beautiful thing is that the ache drives us to him. If we let the waiting draw us to Jesus, he will give us what we need to live in the world. That kind of waiting is designed to change our character, deepen us, and make us more like Christ here and now.

There is one other thing I need to point out. Abraham was waiting for God to do what only God could do. He was too old to have a child. He was waiting for a miracle. The situation looked bleak. And you know, his waiting with faith didn’t change his present circumstances. He waited another ten years before he had a child. So his faith didn’t change the situation; it only changed his attitude.

What are you waiting for today?

Abraham was frustrated but had a vision of what he was looking forward to. Maybe you just want a vision so you at least have something to work with. Well, I want to remind you how Abraham saw the stars and had a revelation of God’s faithfulness. Something ordinary helped him believe in God. And maybe what you’re waiting for—the revelation you need—is coming through something very ordinary. I encourage you to be sure to look and not miss it because it’s not coming in the impressive form you expect.

Or maybe you have a vision for your life, but it’s not happening, and you’re frustrated. All I can say is that there is a reason. I don’t know what it is, but I do know that there are very important things to learn while you’re waiting—things that you can’t live without. Take advantage of the waiting; get everything out of it that you can.

And maybe you feel like you’ll just die if you have to wait any longer. I want to encourage you to talk to God like Abraham did. Abraham is a model of faith, and he complained to God when he was frustrated. So talk to him. Maybe he gave you a promise years ago. Go ahead and ask him when it will be fulfilled. God invites us to speak to him like that. I also want to suggest that you examine your life. Sometimes it is our own disobedience and faithlessness that keeps us waiting. God is just waiting to fulfill the promise, but we’re running in the wrong direction. So examine your life and let the Holy Spirit reveal what he might need to reveal.

And finally, fight for that faith. Do not give up. It is worth the wait. And remember that just because you’re waiting doesn’t mean you are supposed to be passive. Waiting sometimes includes wrestling with God, struggling with him, but it always includes saying that you trust him at the end of the day.

We were designed to live with faith, which sometimes requires waiting for what you need. When you do that, it counts as righteousness. And waiting with faith will change your character and prepare you for what comes next.

So what are you waiting for? If you aren’t waiting for anything, it’s possible that your relationship with God has gone stale—there’s no eye contact anymore. Because when there is no expectancy or excitement, something is not right. So turn to him and ask him to let you feel the ache.

But if you are waiting, remember, it’s not just to frustrate or tease you. God is motivated by love, and he has a purpose for your life. So wait on him.

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