1 The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,[a] do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”
“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs[b] of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There, in the tent,” he said.
10 Then the LORD[c] said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master[d] is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13 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.”
15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
Ok....Let's just stop and think for a second about what we have been seeing in the story of this man and woman who have "embraced" the call of God.
God promised Abraham he would make him into a great nation and bless him and all nations will be blessed through him (Gen. 12). The key was that Abraham had to leave his home and go to some unspecified place. Abraham stepped out in faith. Then Abraham doubted God's protection by lying about his wife (Gen. 12).
Next, God promised Abraham again that he would give him a child, even though Abraham was doubting God (Gen. 15). Then right after that Sarah doubted that this plan would come to fruition, so she told Abraham to sleep with her maidservant Hagar (Gen. 16).
Then, God promised Abraham, AGAIN, that this promised made to him would come true through a son from Sarah, not from Hagar (Gen. 17). What happens next? These two men come to tell Abraham and Sarah that, FINALLY, this promise will come true. And what happens? Sarah laughs at them in disbelief.
And guess what? These people, Abraham and Sarah, are our example of what true FAITH looks like. In Genesis 15 it says, "Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."
Yet Abraham and Sarah do not seem like the perfect examples of resolved, certain faith in God. They have doubted over and over again.
Maybe, just maybe, we have a wrong idea about faith, rather than Abraham and Sarah are bad examples of faith. For God says we need to be like Abraham and Sarah, they believed and it was reckoned to them as righteousness.
We need a new definition of faith.
For us westerners, faith is equated with resolve. It is equated with the idea that we have no doubt at all, that we trust completely in God and what he has and will do for us.
Yet nowhere in the Bible do we have an example of this kind of absolute certainty. A lot of times we see the opposite of faith is doubt.
This is just not true. over and over again Abraham and Sarah doubted, yet they believed in spite of their doubt.
My professor says this over and over again. "The opposite of faith is not doubt, the opposite of faith is certainty."
If we are completely certain about something, then we do not need faith, for faith is believing about something we aren't certain about. It is saying, "I'm not sure about this, but I believe anyway."
See how Abraham and Sarah interacted with God throughout these six chapters. They believed, stepped out in faith, then doubted. It was a progression. But with each progression, they had more faith.
Why?
Because throughout their lives, God continued to prove himself faithful.
He blessed them with material possessions, he rescued them from frightful enemies, he led them and guided them day in and day out. The more Abraham believed, the more God showed his faithfulness.
So, dear Christian, believe in the face of doubt. Doubt will always be involved with faith. But when we step out in faith, God will prove himself trustworthy, and some of our doubt will go away.
If you doubt, step out in faith, and see how God moves. Trust me....rather....trust God.
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