Speaker: Ben Sigman
Theme: Taking Control
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Lift Us Up to Fall by Tenth Avenue North; Let God Arise by Chris Tomlin; Your Love Never Fails by Chris Quilala; Til I See You by Hillsong United.
Read: Genesis 12:1-4; Genesis 16:15-16
Think: Have you ever gotten ahead of yourself? A few years ago, I was interviewing for a promotion that would have involved relocating my family to another state. I had spent years working a little at a time on a degree program. Anticipating that the promotion and transfer would come through, I enrolled in four classes at once - while still working. I wanted to be sure I completed enough courses to finish the degree if we moved. Shortly after the deadline for dropping classes, the whole idea of the transfer fizzled. That was a long school term.
That’s the kind of trouble we can get ourselves into if we aren’t willing to wait. Waiting on God’s timing is a common theme in scripture. Pastor Ben spoke of David’s long wait to become king, and many other biblical figures had similar periods of waiting. A chapter from the life of Abraham illustrates what can happen if we try to rush ahead instead of wait.
God had promised Abraham (still called Abram at the time) that he would be the father of a great nation. Abraham was 75 years old when the promise was made, and he had no children. So he waited. But eventually, he gave up waiting and went along with his wife’s idea to father a child with a servant named Hagar. Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86. Abraham had waited over 10 years for a child by his wife before he finally decided to try to make something happen instead of just waiting longer.
Abraham was 100 years old when God kept his earlier promise with the birth of Isaac. Tension between Abraham and his wife Sarah over his child by the servant was awful, and Abraham had to send Hagar and Ishmael away. By trying to move God along instead of waiting, Abraham created a mess.
Do: Think about your plans for today, perhaps consulting your calendar or planner. Are you pushing to make things happen when you might be better off waiting on God’s timing?
Pray: Father God, sometimes I need to wait and sometimes I need to get moving. But a lot of times, I don’t know whether its time to wait or move. Teach me to know when I need to wait, and to wait patiently for your timing. Amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.
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