Abraham was promised that an entire nation would come from him. Quite far-fetched considering that he had no children, his wife was barren, and they were both already in their nineties. Very few ninety-year-olds I know would be up to the task of chasing a toddler around.
"Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness."
Genesis 15:6.
If you believe in God, then you would most likely say that you believe God is capable of doing whatever He says He will. I, too, believe in the amazing power and majesty and ability of God. At the same time, in some twisted way, I doubt His methods, His timing, His willingness to follow through on a promise. Abraham is a classic example of this. In his heart I think he truly believed God, but doubted His methods. Together with his wife, they came up with a plan to "help" God along (if you are not familiar with it, this poorly thought out plan is found in Genesis 16 and worth the read). Despite his questionable choices, God still came through on the promise He made to Abraham and the entire nation of Israel was birthed through him.Thus, we are led to the truth that God's plan has to be in God's timing. That's a hard one for me. Our entire cultural lifestyle is based around calendars, agendas, arriving on time, mapping out our futures, financial planning, and simply doing our best to protect ourselves for the years ahead. God's timing rarely corresponds with the open appointments in my yearly planner. A fact that makes it so much easier to do what Abraham did and come up with a way to "help" God along in the process.
It is a lifelong lesson, but this year especially, I am learning that God's timing is always better than my own. He doesn't need my help to fulfill His promises. He doesn't need to see the life calendar I began planning at the age of 14. He isn't limited by factors that are limiting to me such as age, talents, family constrictions, etc. He simply asks me to believe.
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