Faith is Not Having to Have All the Answers...

We had another family discussion tonight concerning the events we've been reading about in Genesis.We agreed on at least a couple of things. One is our curiosity about why God continues to be faithful to unfaithful people. Second, they had some mighty strange customs that don't seem "right."

Now, a part of me is really glad that we see the Lord God continuing to be faithful to the people of Abraham's family tree - at least those on the Isaac side of the tree. It shows me that God doesn't give up on people. In fact, He gives them chance after chance to follow Him and obey His will. That's not to say they don't have to face the consequences of their choices when they disobey. But God, in His sovereignty, will ultimately see His plan for man fulfilled. In other words, we may alter His plan for our lives, but we cannot alter His plan for this world.

He makes a covenant with Abraham that He will make Abraham the Father of Many Nations - God's chosen people. He is given Sarah as his wife, and together they follow after the Lord God. God takes His time in blessing them with a promised son. We're talking about years! Years past the normal child-bearing age. So they take matters into their own hands. Sarah suggests that Abe take her servant, Hagar, and have a son with her - and he does. That was not how God wanted it, but He allowed it. Since the beginning, He gave man free will to make his own choices. As we all know from personal experiences, man (and woman) doesn't always make the right choice! Abe and Sarah did their part to "help" God along with His promise, and the result was the birth of Ishmael. God's plan was not to generate His chosen people via an illegitimate son. God allowed the birth of that son but not the birth of His nation through that son. His plan didn't change. Human nature took its course, and Sarah became resentful of Hagar and her son, and finally had Abraham send them away. How Abe handled that was really not humane - at least in our way of thinking. Sending a mom and her young son out to the desert with little provisions is a death sentence. However, God had mercy on them and promised her that her son would also father a nation, but this nation would be in contention with Abe's. Ishmael became the father of the Edomites. Today's native Middle Eastern people, the Arabs and Palestinians, are descended from the Edomites. Is there contention? Oh yeah....

God did fulfill His promise to Abe and Sarah, and they became parents to Isaac. Why did He make them wait so long? Was He testing them? Growing them? Toying with them? Didn't He know they would take matters into their own hands and mess up the plan? Why didn't He wipe them out and start over like he did with Noah? I can't answer those questions. There are some things we will never know or understand in this life. Part of faith is not having to have all the answers.

God's promise to Abraham was passed on to Isaac, who married Rebekah. They also had issues. When she finally did get pregnant, she had twins. Essau was born first, followed by Jacob. God intended for Jacob to carry the covenant promise even though Essau was the older son. Again, we see the mom take things into her own hands instead of waiting on the Lord and His timing. Rebekah and Jacob conspired and cheated Essau out of his father's blessing. They did not wait on the Lord. And again, there were consequences to their actions. Essau determined to get his revenge by killing Jacob, so Jacob was sent away for his own safety. It took him twenty years to return home, and he never saw his mother again. Essau married into Ishmael's family, thus, consolidating the forces against God's chosen people.

God continued in His faithfulness to His people and blessed Jacob with twelve sons, from whom He would divide and populate Abraham's descendants. Now, there was treachery in Jacob's story as well. His twelve sons were from four different women, two of whom were his wives, and two of whom were servants. Today, we live in a culture of a husband and one wife - at least, one at a time! It is not okay to have affairs with multiple people. Why was it different back then? Was that okay with God? If so, when did the rules change?

Once again, I don't have all the answers - but here's the thing. I am okay with not having all the answers. I know with confidence what God's plan for our generation is, and that's what I am to live out.

I don't know or understand why God put up with so much wishy-washyness and deceit. If I think too hard on it, I begin to get angry! Now isn't that ironic?

So, let me try to sum up some of the things learned from these accounts of God's people.

• God is faithful even when we are not. He keeps His word and does what He says He will do.
• God works on His on time-table. His timing is perfect, and when I try to "help" Him along, I am actually attempting to usurp His authority!
• God made man with a free will. However, when our will acts contrary to His will, there will be consequences that may ripple out beyond ourselves and may continue to ripple for eternity.
• If the poor choices of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their families frustrate me to the point of getting angry, how much more frustrated must God be with His people (like me) when I am unfaithful to Him?

This is not an end-all list of lessons to be gleaned from the first thirty six chapters of Genesis. This is just the list that jumps out at me as I write. I pray that the Lord will continue to mull His Word over in my heart and mind and continue to teach me. And I pray that I will be open to His Spirit's teaching.