In my home country, when a person turns 50, we say that they have "met Abraham" or are "celebrating Abraham". It is supposed to stand for the wisdom that we accumulate with time. I find that funny for two reasons; one, because in the Bible, Abraham stands for faith rather than for wisdom; and, people who use this expression don't know that. The other reason why I find this expression funny is because Abraham was neither faithful nor wise at 50 years of age. In my opinion. Have I written about him yet? Very interesting character.
But his journey is a long one. And he has the patience to do it.
Did you ever stop to think that Abraham was still Abram when God told him to move out and start traveling, and 75 years old? It was on this trip that he first introduced his beautiful wife Sarai as his sister.
And I can already hear the critics shouting "He didn't lie, they WERE related!" But hear my point.
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
Gen 12:1-5
I admit, I also wanted to show that at the age 50 nothing special happened to Abraham... But it is never too late for an adventure.
75th birthday comes with a surprise: you're moving but I will tell you later where. And, I will bless your family (that you don't have yet as a 75 years old man).
I can't imagine many people who would be happy with this situation. But he did it.
11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
Gen 12:11-13
OK, so their marriage was a little dysfunctional. According to the rest of chapter 12 Sarai plays along, the pharaoh actually takes the 65 years old beauty to be his wife (!!!) and realizes something had gone wrong when the plague starts. They are asked to leave, of course.. It may be that this is where they picked up Hagar, the woman who would be Sarai's maid, and later the mother of a great nation.
All the while, God is encouraging Abram, repeating and proving that he will have a child. But there is no child.
Ten years later, Sarai gives up on hoping to have children and Abram has another surprise waiting on him for his birthday. He is 85 years old and Sarah wants him to sleep with the maid, Hagar, and conceive a child. Surely enough, for his 86th birthday Abram receives a son by Hagar! Surely, he thinks, this is the son that God had in mind! Sarai is beating herself up for suggesting this strange alliance to her husband, because now the maid has grown conceited, she thinks back to the point when she took her on staff...
So life goes on for another 13 years. The boy is growing, and so is his mother's pride. And Abraham's and Sarah's desperation.
Then one day God speaks to Abram again, changes his name and gives him more specific instructions.
17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
Gen 17:15-22
And by his next birthday, Sarah delivers a baby boy.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to imagine a 90-year-old pregnant lady. I also don't like the dynamics in their marriage - it seems they both had commitment issues.
But Isaac's father responded to God's instructions. I had over 6 months to prepare to move to another country, and it still took me a year to recover. How suddenly do you want to move when you retire? Maybe to a place where you don't know anyone? To a mission field where a church is yet to be planted? He did it. He packed up and took off, praising God all the way. Every time God spoke to him, he worshiped. And when he lost hope, he believed.
about 2500 years later, it is written of him:
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Rom 4:18
I have been trying to worship God in the moments when things don't go my way. It's difficult. But try it, something great happens to your heart. I don't want to wait until I'm 75, or even 50, to have faith. The last time I was at an "Abraham celebration", I was the child of the birthday girl. This last weekend, I was a friend. Time goes quickly, and we don't live as long as people used to back in the days. I don't want that "meeting Abraham" means being 50. I want it to mean that I have the true faith that God likes, now.
How is your faith evident in your life?
Have you ever decided to believe when you had no more hope?
What would happen if you took a hopeless situation in your life and decided to have faith in God's promises?
God bless you,
Silvija P., Düsseldorf
1 comment:
And GOD bless you Sil. I think this IS your most moving entry yet. Wow. I appreciate the perspective, especially about your move to a new country, and we both know you are NO where near 50, let alone 75, and true you had preparation and chose to do it. Abraham, was told, it didn't seem he could have ruminated or negotiated with GOD, unlike what Lot, foolishly did (Gen. 19:15-22).
So yeah, there is something to Abraham. I commend you for your move and your fight to be rooted in GOD. It is truly exemplary, and to that I say: hvala lepa ;)
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