Study from Genesis 18 – 19; Passage for Reflection: Genesis 18: 13-14 … NIV Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."
My Journal for Today: Again I go to Pastor Smith’s devotional question at the end of today’s entry, which asks, ”Is there anything [you’ve] desperately tried to make happen without thinking that if God wants to make it happen, He has the power to make it happen?” Sarah’s laugh in today’s passage is evidence of our human failing. We tend to judge God’s power based on our human ability to perform. Sarah simply couldn’t fathom how God could give her the ability to conceive a child at her age. So, her reaction was to giggle in disbelief. Not a good thing to do in the presence of God; would you say?
But my friend, when God promises something, He is truthful, serious, and ALWAYS capable of fulfilling His promises. And as I read today’s highlight passage and my study from Genesis, one of my memory verses bubbled up into my consciousness. It is Numbers 23: 19, which reads, God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change his mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? So, my friend, laughing off God’s promises or His power to act is the height of human arrogance, pride, and absolute foolishness.
In Genesis 19 Abraham was given a first-hand look at the results of the promises and power of God as he looked out from the plains of Hebron and saw Sodom and Gomorrah burning. God had promised the destruction of those perpetuating evil in these cities; and Abraham witnessed the result. And we need to be alerted to this reality when we look around and see what evil is being perpetrated in our world, evil which mocks God’s protection and mercy thus far in our culture. I read Romans 1: 18-32 [linked]; and I shudder at what I know to be the truth that God’s mercy will only last so long (and we know not how long) to protect the righteous remnant of believers from God’s wrath of abandonment. God will not and cannot continue to look the other way as Sodom/Gomorrah type evil is being perpetrated in our time.
Those who have read my journals here in the past year will know that on more than one occasion I have brought forth the adage that the rain, when it falls, will fall on both the unjust and the just. So, God’s church needs to be in prayer – diligent prayer – the type of prayer exhorted in 2nd Chron. 7: 14 [linked] - for God to heal our land of the evil which appears to be growing in our midst. But as Habakkuk, the Prophet of old learned, we need to be prepared for things to get worse before they get better. God will do what He feels must be done to bring His plans to fruition. And we must be willing to trust Him to do His thing, in His time, and in His way!
My Prayer for Today: Lord, we stand before You, trusting and knowing that You know best what You must do to heal our land; but I do humbly pray that you have mercy on those who believe in Your sovereignty and Lordship. You are in control; and we trust You in all things; and we plea for Your deliverance and merciful judgment. Amen
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