Who are we while we wait? What we do tells us and others who we are. How are you at standing in line for…anything? How many of us tap our fingers, shift from side to side and heave a big sigh while waiting on the microwave for one minute to heat up our leftover that years ago took about 30 minutes. How are we at waiting for the light to change and when it does and the car in front does not react as quickly as we do, we honk…just to remind them?Okay, I’m probably getting to personal. 

Abram and Sarai made a bit of a mess in their decision to go ahead of God to create descendants on their own…hurting Hagar and the son she delivered in the process. God has taken that mess and will now work with it to fulfill His purpose for Abram.

That’s what God does best…turns our messes into messages. What unconditional love, what patience He has for us, what mercy and grace…that we ourselves have a hard time extending to others, it seems! (Okay, I will stop honking at those who do not move along in traffic. And then there’s….)

God now clarifies His covenant with Abram with new declaratives and conditions. God even changes their names!

Genesis 17, Msg:
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, ‘I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I’ll make a covenant between us and I’ll give you a huge family.”

“Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face.”

“Then God said to him, ‘This is my covenant with you: You’ll be the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that I’m making you the father of many nations. I’ll make you a father of fathers–I’ll make nations from you, kings will issue from you. I’m establishing my covenant between me and you, a covenant that includes your descendants, a covenant that goes on and on and on, a covenant that commits me to be your God and the God of your descendants. And I’m giving you and your descendants this land where you’re now just camping, this whole country of Canaan, to own forever. And I’ll be their God.”

(Reminder note…The God of Abraham is OUR God, too! Let us stop and let that sink deep into our souls!)

CONDITION OF THE COVENANT:

“God continued to Abraham, ‘And you: You will honor my covenat, you and your descendants, generation after generation. This is the covenant that you are to honor…Circumcise every male.” Msg

“Your part of the agreement, God told Abraham, is to obey the terms of the covenant.” Genesis 17:9, NLT

God continues speaking to Abram and tells him that Sarai is now Sarah and that she will be blessed with a son. God has the name picked out for him, too…Isaac, meaning laughter. Both senior citizens laughed when they heard God’s news that in a year there would be a son between them! There are so many things to think about in God’s Story…but the bottom line is this…in spite of who we are, what we do, God is in control. 

“Is there anything too hard for GOD?

Dear Heavenly Father, NO, there is NOTHING too hard for you and we are thankful for this declaration in your story of how you turned Abram’s mess to Abraham’s permanent covenant with You. Thank you for being the God of Abraham and for being the God of us, for us, with us…forever and ever. In Jesus Name, Amen