When God pulls us aside
We hear a polished pitch or well-plastered promo and think to ourselves, “Now, that’s too good to be true.”
We know what’s next. It IS too good to be true. The hoax, scam, or the something so hyped disappoints us.
Sometimes the disappointment is minor. Eh. Shrug. It was something we could afford to try—and lose.
Sometimes the disappointment stings for a long while. Perhaps a hurt lasts a lifetime.
Then there’s the pitch that plucks us right on the heartstrings. This happened to the person I am about to share with you.
Years ago, this man had a deep desire. He wanted to be a dad.
I’m speaking of Abram. Some of us may be more familiar with him after God changed his name from Abram to Abraham, but Abram’s story is something we all experience. We want love.
As we come into Father’s Day this Sunday, it’s true that the desire to be dad is not universal.
But this? It’s hard to picture Abram wanting nothing more than the priceless gift of a bouncing baby on his knee who would one day walk so well with him that the two would be known in all the social circuits as father and son. There’s this, too. “He’s a chip off the ol’ block, Abram.”
I have no doubt Abram and his wife Sarai (who became Sarah) prayed to God for a child. In their decades together, they shared this prayer together and individually with patience at times and pain other times.
Then there’s THAT moment. God pulls Abram aside and shares what is too good to be true.
“You’ll be a dad.”
God doesn’t quite share it this way. Instead, God invites Abram to look up into the night sky. He says privately, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have (Genesis 15:5)!”
It’s possible Abram immediately gasps. Then he thinks. Then he wonders. Then he does the math by adding his age and his wife’s age together. Whoa! THAT number is too high, he realizes. This deal is too good to be true.
There’s more. The unlikely pregnancy doesn’t immediately happen. In fact, it takes twenty-five years for Sarai to carry this baby in her womb.
Scripture reveals Abram and Sarai are not perfect in their faith. Each makes mistakes in their lifetime. The mistakes center on not trusting God, His timing, His promises and His provisions.
But God did not stop, turn, or quit on them. God does not stop, turn, or quit on us, either. Instead, God does to us what God did to Abram. He pulls us aside. It’s true. What God did with Abram is what God can do with us. He can softly yet directly interrupt us. He can whisper blessings we find too good to be true.
I am not saying God gives and gives. Remember, Abram and Sarai spent decades as a childless couple. Also, I repeat that parenthood wasn’t immediate after Abram heard the news. What I am saying God gives in such ways that we unquestionably know and share who He is.
Let this be helpful. It’s not a neon lit billboard Abram reads that makes the father of an entire nation aware of what God is saying about fatherhood. The Keeper of the stars just leads Abram to a quiet place under the stars.
Let God do the same with you.
Maybe God will use bright-lit billboards and a booming voice when it comes to blessing us. This is certainly possible. However, I tend to think and experience God as Abram did here, and that’s in the stillness of the night (or day) with the whisper in our hearts.
But yes, let God pull you aside, or out of your own thinking. Let God bless you.
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