Dealing with the death of a Spouse

 Read Genesis 23. 

One of the most stressful events in life is losing one's spouse.  It involves processing the emotional pain of loss.  Next comes the overwhelming sense of loneliness.  Then, one must deal with the agony of transitioning to a new phase of life.  Sarah died at age 127.  Now, this 137 year old widower must bury his wife and carry on without her.  

 In planning the funeral, Abraham turned to his neighbors for an appropriate burial site.  Do not miss their response to him in verse 6.  "You are a prince of God among us." 

His neighbors recognized at least three things about Abraham in that one statement:

1. He was deemed a leader among them.

2. He was a respected in the neighborhood (a prince of a guy).

3. He was recognized as having a relationship with God. 

Abraham could have taken advantage of the situation and acquired the burial site as a gift.  But his integrity and ability superseded giving in to any pity the community had for him.  He paid a fair price in this public transaction with a humble spirit. 

Times of suffering are God's opportunities to demonstrate His grace and comfort to those who love Him.  Family, friends and neighbors get to witness firsthand the difference genuine faith can make in a crisis.  When this is evident, the question unbelievers are asking (whether spoken or unspoken) is, "How are you able to hold up like this?  If it were me, I would be falling apart."  Indeed, when the props are knocked out from under us, we need someone to lean on for strength.

Moses wrote: "The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms." (Deuteronomy 33:27)  If our relationship with God and our trust in Him is where and how we live, then we can experience His faithfulness every day, not just when there is a tragedy.  We cast our dependence on Him.  We lean on those everlasting arms.

Though it may have felt like this was the end, God was not done unfolding His plan for Abraham and his family.  There is so much more ahead for him and for us.

 

4 discoveries from a Faith-test

 Read Genesis 22.

No parent would want to face this test.  Isaac was the long awaited heir to the future fulfillment of the promises of God.  In Hebrew the word "test" means "prove".  It is one thing to say we believe in God, to say that we trust Him, to say that we are followers of His.  It is quite another to actually put it into practice.  It means putting our faith in action.  It is walking the talk.

Dr. Crawford Loritts, in his excellent book Leadership as an Identity, devotes the last three chapters to what he calls "radical, immediate obedience."  No matter how strange or unthinkable it may have seemed to Abraham, he arose early in the morning and set out to do what God had commanded.  

What was Abraham thinking?  He did not know how it would turn out.  He did not know when or if God would intervene.  He only knew one thing and that was all that he needed to obey.  "God will provide..." (v.8). It is from this statement that we learn one of the names of God--Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD will provide.  Hebrews 11 helps us to further understand how much Abraham trusted God during this test. "He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead..."   All of God's promises to Abraham and future generations were on the line.  Yet, he believed God would be faithful to His word.

There are four discoveries as a result of this one test that our faith needs today.
1. This is a proof of Abraham's willingness. 

God did not want Abraham to kill his son.  He wanted Abraham to be absolutely willing to do whatever God asked him to do; radical immediate obedience.

2. This is a proof of God's trustworthiness.  

The commands of God in His Word and the Biblical principles of life are most often counter intuitive.  Sometimes what God wants us to do does not make sense to us.  Human nature wants to see the outcome in advance.  But the believer has been called to walk by faith.  If what God wants is clear we will discover 100% of the time that God is worthy of our complete trust.      

3. This is a proof of God's faithfulness. 

He did provide at exactly the right moment.  We all wish God would provide in advance so we could avoid a crisis.  But faith does not grow in a comfort zone.    

4. This is a proof of God's truthfulness. 

God made an everlasting covenant to Abraham and his descendants.  Then, He miraculously provided Isaac to continue fulfilling that promise.  To slay Isaac seemed to contradict all that God had said.  However, God did not change His mind or His Word.  In verses 17-18, the angel repeated the promise again.  God's promises are true and completely reliable in every test.

 

Responding to a Miracle

 Read Genesis 21. 

Finally, the promise God made one year before became a reality.  Abraham at age 100 and Sarah being 90, Isaac was born.  It was a miracle and a time for celebration. 

This chapter contains three different responses to what God had done. 

1. Abraham responded with delightful obedience.  

God told him to name his son Isaac.  He did so.  God told him to circumcise his son on the eighth day.  That is exactly what he did.  It was an absolute joy for him to have this son of God's promise.  How many times has someone prayed, "Oh, God, if you will get me out of this mess I will __________" (you fill in the blank).  And how many times those promises are forgotten and never fulfilled.  In this case, God made a promise and gave clear instructions.  In celebration, Abraham obeyed. 

2. Sarah responded with rejoicing.  

Reading verses 6-7, one can almost hear her giggle.  The name Isaac means laughter.  When she first heard the LORD speak of her coming pregnancy, Sarah laughed in unbelief.  But now she celebrated and laughed with joy.  She is one of the women listed in faith's Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11.  She rejoiced, not because of what she and Abraham had done, but, rather, because of what God had done. 

3. Ishmael responded with mockery.  

In a public celebration, there almost always seems to be someone who wants to rain on the parade.  Surely, Ishmael considered himself to be the heir and openly mocked the birth of Isaac in derision.  This was the final straw in a nagging problem that Sarah had endured for fourteen years.  Sarah's words were firm, "Cast out this slave woman."  The joyful celebration for Abraham stopped.  It pained him to face this unresolved issue in his home.  But God reassured this husband by saying, "Do as she tells you."  There was unfinished business that he had rationalized and gotten used to.  Ishmael was also his son.  God had plans to care for Hagar and Ishmael but they were not to be a part of this home any longer. 

When one begins their own personal relationship with Christ, there are some immediate changes that take place.  But there are also some left-overs.  Things that do not immediately change; items and issues that require attention, discipline, and sacrifice if we are to grow in holy living.  They may be painful to face, but face them we must in order to continue the celebration of our faith and what God has done.

 

Failure is not Final

 Read Genesis 20.

Think of who Abraham was.  He was a man specially called by God.  The Lord made an unconditional and everlasting covenant with him and his descendants.  He was called God's friend (James 2:23).  Abraham was wealthy.  Everywhere he went, he built an altar to worship the LORD.  He worshiped by giving Him ten percent of all he had.  Abraham’s prayers were answered.  God referred to him as a prophet (20:7).

In addition, Abraham was human and struggled with sin.  Twice, Genesis recounts the same scenario in his life.  He allowed fear to rule his decisions, instead of trusting God.  This fear led him to lie about his marriage.  He placed his wife in great physical and moral jeopardy.  Sin leads us to make one bad decision after another.

When Abraham would not listen to the LORD, Abimelech heard God loud and clear.  This king's character proved superior to Abraham's in this instance.  The LORD's response was, "Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning" (v.6).  God protected the king.  He also protected Sarah when her husband would not.

Abraham confessed his fear of Abimelech, instead of God.  "I did it because I thought, 'There is no fear of God at all in this place.'" (v.11).  The environment may not have been godly, but the LORD is omnipresent.  Abraham let the people around him determine his behavior.  Once a person forgets or jettisons the awareness of God's presence and power they will immediately make foolish and sinful choices.  Doing so violates the first principle in making good decisions.  Proverbs 9:10-"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." 

Despite this repeated public sin, God still used Abraham.  "He will pray for you, and you shall live." (v.7b).  "Then Abraham prayed to God, and the king was healed..." (v.17)  God had neither changed His plans nor His mind concerning His relationship with Abraham.  There is hope for all us.

 

There is an end to God's Mercy

 Read Genesis 19. 

The two angels who visited Abraham were on a mission to see firsthand the evil in the valley.  When they arrived, their wickedness proved pervasive "to the last man" (19:4).  The area became totally committed to the most heinous behaviors imaginable and God's mercy for these unrepentant rebels had reached its end. 

Lot was far from perfect but he was a "righteous" man (2 Peter 2:7) and these angels had come to rescue him and his family.  The preannounced judgment of God was absolutely certain.  However, the responses to God's coming wrath produced differing results.

1. The sons-in-law laughed (v.14).  

When Lot tried to persuade his extended family to immediately leave with him, they considered God's word to be a joke. 

2. Lot lingered (v.16).  

The command was to leave immediately, but Lot hesitated to obey.  Perhaps, he realized he would lose some of his family members, his home, and all his belonging which were significant.  He had so many possessions in herds and servants that he had to separate from Abraham in chapter 13.  His heart was tied to temporal things.  

3. Lot's wife longed to go back.  

The command was "Do not look back."  She deliberately disobeyed.  Her "look" was more than a curious glimpse (v.26).  The Hebrew word has to do with intently looking with pleasure.  Though the environment was irredeemable, she already missed living there.  Her heart was not right with God.  She paid for it with her life.  

The Word of God could not be more clear on the subject of homosexuality.  To this day such behavior is legally referred to as Sodomy.   

The two angels had to physically grab these four and pull them out of Sodom to a new place.  Note verse 22.  The angel stated, "I can do nothing till you arrive there."  God's wrath is never intended for His own.  As 2 Peter 2 underscores, each time God always provides a way to escape His wrath.  This is consistent with the rest of scripture, including the judgments in Revelation. 

 The coming earthly and eternal judgments are just as sure.  The responses to God's word concerning these announcements are the same as it was in Genesis.  But God has already provided a singular way of escape.  "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." (John 3:36) 

 

A hard lesson on intercessory Prayer

 Read Genesis 18.

This is the sixth recorded time the LORD has directly revealed Himself to Abraham.  Each occurrence provided direction, a promise, or affirmation concerning God's covenant with him.

In the previous chapter, the LORD promised that a son named Isaac would indeed be Abraham's heir.  Here, the LORD appeared again to announce that the child would be born within the next year.  What humanly was impossible for this elderly couple presented no problem for God.
"Is anything too hard for the LORD?" (v.14) 

The first half of the chapter appears to be almost incidental to the real mission.  The two angels were on their way to deal with the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Notice that the two angels appeared as men, not with glowing auras, and not with wings.  This is consistent with all other appearances of angels in the scriptures.   

The LORD, then, asked this question: "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" (v.17)  God's patience with the cities in the valley had run out.  Judgment against their wickedness would come swiftly and totally. 

When he realized this would affect Lot and his family, Abraham began to intercede on their behalf.  Finally, Abraham's request is reduced to a number equal to that of Lot, his children and their spouses.  Sadly, only three escaped alive. 

Was God allowing Abraham to negotiate the souls of these people?  No.  God already knew what He was going to do.  But Abraham did not.  One result of earnest prayer is surrendering our wills to what God wants done in the area of our requests.  Then, we must trust Him fully for the outcome.  Our belief in prayer is not based upon getting our way but in the One who is worthy of our trust.  

 

Believing God for the Impossible

 Read Genesis 17. 

After Abram's disbelief and failure in chapter 16, the LORD appeared to Abram again to reaffirm the everlasting covenant.  This is the third time God promised him innumerable descendants and the land.  Despite the fact that more than thirteen years had passed, God would indeed keep his promise.  The LORD waited until Abram and Sarai believed it was humanly impossible for them to conceive a child.  In this way, everyone would know that the LORD alone would receive the credit.  It would be a miracle! 

Several things were about to change.  For all these years his name has been Abram, which means father.  A man with no children named father would be laughable in itself, but at age 99 it was more embarrassing than amusing.  Then, God changed his name to Abraham, which means father of a multitude. 

Sarai, whose name means princess, will now be called Sarah.  This is only a slight change in meaning, but it is enough to give her something to live up to.  Here at about age 90, God foretold that she will give birth to a son. 

Such declarations caused Abraham to laugh.  How incredible this seemed to him!  God instructed the child to be named Isaac, which means laughter.   

In commenting on this very passage, the Apostle Paul wrote: "...God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist....No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised." (Romans 4:17-20) 

Humans only see the past and the present.  God sees the end from the beginning.  In His plan for our lives, the LORD sees not only the way things are but as they can and will be.  It is the essence of faith to believe in life and eternity according to God's word and His will.