"Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 'I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless."
-Genesis 17:1
Today marks my one hundredth blog post, which I never thought would happen. When I first started this blog I thought I would just stop writing after a while, but I have been going strong for almost two years now. I thank God for blessing me and giving me the strength and the will to continue writing. I also want to thank all of you who read my blog, and I hope it has encouraged you. I know that my posts tend to be long and sometimes difficult to understand, so I really appreciate your support. Enough thank yous, let's talk about Genesis.
In Genesis 16 we see that Abram is starting to lose faith in God's promise. In Genesis 15 we learned that God promised Abram a son, and Abram believed His word. However, it has been a very long time, and Abram still does not have this son that God promised him. Sarai, Abram's wife, suggests that Abram should try having a son with their servant Hagar. This was custom at the time, and Abram thought it was a good idea. So Abram sleeps with Hagar, and Hagar becomes pregnant.
This pregnancy causes great tension in the household, as Hagar despises Sarai, and in turn Sarai mistreats Hagar. Hagar is so badly mistreated that she decides to run away from Abram's house. She ends up in a desert near a spring, where God speaks to her. God then promises Hagar that she will have many descendants. God instructs her to go back to Abram's house, and submit to Sarai's authority over her. Hagar's son is born, and he is named Ishmael.
Genesis 17 talks about God's renewed covenant with Abram. God tells Abram to circumcise all of his household, including non-family. In turn God will bless Ismael and give Abram a son through Sarai. God also changes Abram and Sarai's name to Abraham and Sarah. Abraham again puts his faith in God, and he circumcises everyone just as God commanded him.
What is quite easy to miss in this part of the Bible is the passage of time. It seems like only a short period of time, because it's only been two chapters. What we have to realize is that these chapters span the time period of twenty-five years. When we realize that it has been a very long time since Abraham was promised a son, we can understand Abraham's concern and doubt. He perhaps thought God forgot him again, or that he was doing something wrong. After Hagar gives birth to Ishmael, Abram probably assumed that this was the son he was promised such a long time ago.
It's easy to lose sight of God, especially when it seems that He has not spoken in a long time. It's also easy to forgot that God is always watching us and doing things for our good. When Hagar is out in the desert and God speaks to her, she realizes that God was always watching her, declaring that He is "a God who sees (Genesis 16:13)". Even in our worst moments, God is always there, watching over us. God is faithful, even when we are not faithful to Him.
When Abraham is waiting for all these years, he probably started to seriously doubt God's promise. Abraham probably felt a sense of defeat, having to wait for so long just to hear from God again. When Abraham was in one of his darkest moments, God again promises him a son from Sarah. This gives great hope to Abraham, and he probably didn't feel so defeated. In our own lives, it's very easy to doubt that God is with us. Life is filled with moments of great heights and great depths. Even when we are in our darkest times, God is a God who sees. He is there, watching over us. He has a plan for us, and it may include going through rough times. However, in everything, whether good or bad, nothing can separate us from the love of God.
-Smart
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