Illus: A psychiatrist visited a California mental institution and asked a man: "How did you get here? What was the nature of your illness?"
The psychiatrist got the following reply.
• "Well, it all started when I got married and everything went down hill from there.
• I married a widow with a grown daughter who then became my stepdaughter.
• My dad came to visit us, fell in love with my lovely stepdaughter and married her. And so my stepdaughter was now my stepmother.
• Soon, my wife had a son who was, of course, my daddy's brother-in-law since he is the half-brother of my stepdaughter, who is now, of course, my daddy's wife.
• So, as I told you, when my stepdaughter married my daddy, she was at once my stepmother! Now, since my new son is brother to my stepmother, he also became my uncle.
• As you know, my wife is my step-grandmother since she is my stepmother's mother.
• Don't forget that my stepmother is my stepdaughter.
• Remember, too, that I am my wife's grandson.
• But hold on just a few minutes more. You see, since I'm married to my step-grandmother, I am not only the wife's grandson and her hubby, but I am also my own grandfather. Now can you understand how I got put in this place?"
The psychiatrist stood there with a blank look on his face and he said to the patient, "Move over!"
Life can certainly become confusing at times and leave us wondering what is really going on, because we do not have the slightest idea what is taking place in our life.
Illus: A representative of the gas company phoned the owner of an expensive new home to make an appointment for the service man to come in and light the pilot lights and adjust the furnace.
• The owner said that was OK, but he wanted to make sure he was there, because if he wasn’t there the service man would never get the furnace going.
• The caller insisted that his people were well trained and would have no trouble.
• "You don’t understand," the owner said, "When your man tries to adjust the furnace he’ll go out of his mind. The thermostat in the entry hall is a dummy. It’s there for my wife to play with. Only I know where the real one is hidden.”
At times, we have all felt like somebody had hidden the thermostat from us. There are times in our life we feel that things should not be going the way they are going! After all:
• We have God on our side
• We have the power of the Holy Spirit on our side
• We have the power of Prayer on our side
• We have the precious Word of God to instruct us
We have all these in our life and still it seems at times this is not enough. It is enough, but there are times it does not seem like it is enough.
God knew there would be times like that in our life, and God put a verse of scripture in the Word of God to help us deal with these times.
Look at Romans 8:28, we read, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Notice that little word “all” in this verse. God is saying that everything that happens in your life and my life is working for our good. Notice, He does not say what is happening is GOOD, but He does say that it will work out for OUR GOOD!
Sometimes life is like going to the dentist. It is for our good. It is not GOOD, but it works out for our GOOD!
• Many times we may not understand what is going on in our life but that is all right because God does.
• We may feel like we are out of control at times, but that is all right because God is very much in control.
This matter of walking by faith is not always easy, but it is essential that we learn to walk by faith.
As we walk by faith, there are times we are going to feel that someone has hidden the thermostat from us and we do not know what is going on in our life.
We are not the only ones who ever felt this way. Even that great man called Abraham, in the Old Testament, had times when he had no idea of what God was trying to do in his life. HE DID NOT HAVE A CLUE AS TO WHAT WAS GOING ON, NOT A CLUE!!!
For example, in Genesis 15 there had been a war.
• Four Kings from the north had swept down upon the cities of the South, and (having defeated their enemy) they were returning home with prisoners and other spoils of war.
• Among those prisoners was Abraham’s nephew Lot, along with his possessions.
• Once Abraham heard of this, he gathered his men (a total force of 317 men) and pursued the army from the north. He attacked them by night, rescuing his nephew along with all the other captives and their possessions.
• On the way home, Abraham stopped at a town we now call Jerusalem and spent time with a priest of God called Melchizedek, and gave him a 10th of all the spoils.
Right after this, God came to Abraham in a vision and gave him the Old Testament version of Roman 8:28. Look at Gen. 15:1, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."
Now Abraham had just returned from winning a battle he had no business winning. And Abraham KNOWS that he had no business defeating this army from the north.
• The only reason he won was because God had helped him.
• That’s why he gave a 10th of the spoils with God. He was thanking God for helping win the victory.
But notice three things here:
• Once the victory has been won
• Once he had shown his gratitude to God at Jerusalem
• Once God had visited him in a vision to confirm His love for Abraham
All this still does not seem to be enough.
Notice what Abraham says in Genesis 15:2-3 "And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir."
You see, God had made a promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:7, we read, “And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.”
That’s been a while back.
• Abraham’s getting older
• His wife’s not a spring chicken anymore
• The clock’s ticking… and he’s has no child
He’s beginning to think that he needs to come up with PLAN -B because PLAN-A is not working. NOT AT ALL!
WHY WAS HE CONSIDERING AN ALTERNATE PLAN? It seemed to him that since God had not yet given him a son, if he were to die it would create some problems.
In those days, if a man was childless there were laws that enabled them to “adopt” one of their servants to become their heir. (This insured the estate did not fall into somebody else’s hands). Eliezer was his faithful servant. And he is saying to God that it looks like he needs to go see a lawyer and change his will so Eliezer will inherit all this wealth God had blessed him with.
Illus: Did you hear about the man who was hard of hearing? He went to the doctor and the doctor told him he had been doing some research on this problem, and with his permission he would like to use this new procedure to help his hearing.
The man agreed, and he came back to see the doctor the next week to see if he was regaining his hearing. The man reported remarkable improvement. He came back the next week and again reported progress. The same thing for the third week and now he had normal hearing. The doctor said to him, “I bet your family is really excited about you being able to hear.”
He said, “Well, they do not know about it yet!” He asked, “Why haven’t you told them?” He said, “Because I have changed my will three times since I have been able to hear!”
If the master died childless, the servant became his sole heir.
Abraham is saying that he is still childless and he believes he needs to go to Plan-B and leave everything to his trusted servant Eliezer.
This wasn’t what God had promised him, and Abraham is a little bewildered. He lets God know that he’s disappointed. Let’s look at this situation a little closer. I want to show you several things, such as:
I. GOD’S RESPONSE
He DOESN’T rebuke Abraham for being upset. He doesn’t tell him he has NO RIGHT to question what’s happening.
Look at Genesis 15:7, “And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.”
WHAT IS GOD SAYING? God is saying that -
• He is the one who brought Abraham out of the land of Ur
• He is the one who promised Abraham a child
As Abraham was considering giving his inheritance to his servant Eliezer, look what the Lord said to him in verse 4, “And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.”
Many times in Scripture, we find great men and women of God do not have a clue of what is going on in their life. Such as:
• David writes in Psalm 13:1-2, “ How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?”
• The prophet Habakkuk said in Habakkuk 1:2, “O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!”
God doesn’t rebuke any of these great men who were confused about what was taking place in their life. He does record them so we can see that other men and women have struggled with their faith as well and for that we are most grateful!
In Abraham’s case, God began to give him some reassurance.
HOW DOES HE DO THIS?
GOD CORRECTS ABRAHAM’S THINKING!
Look at Gen. 15:4-5, we read, “And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.”
God again told Abraham that he would have a son, and through his descendants they will multiply as the stars in heaven.
NOTICE HOW GOD ASSURES HIM OF THIS PROMISE.
It was through an elaborate ceremony known as the “cutting covenant.”
WHAT IS A COVENANT? A covenant was like a contract, except it was far more binding and serious.
God gave Abram a promised Gen. 12:1-2, we read “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.”
Abraham did exactly as the Lord requested.
Now, since Abraham was questioning, the Lord God was going to give him assurance by giving him the “Cutting Covenant.”
When God requested this, Abraham’s heart pounded with excitement because he knew what this meant. GOD WAS PREPARING TO FORM A CONTRACT BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM.
HOW DID THE “CUTTING COVENANT” FUNCTION?
In the cutting covenant, two parties would cut an animal in two (here God orders Abraham to cut up several animals). The parties to the agreement would then pass down between those halves and were declaring to each other and to anyone else who happened to be a witness to the event: “May I be like this animal if I ever break this covenant.”
Now, why would God do this? Because, Abraham was getting older and was still childless and needed some assurance. When Abraham would struggle with this question in the future (and he would,) God wanted him to have a powerful image in his mind REMINDING him of this day.
The major purpose for Covenants is to remind people of promises that are made.
God used the ceremony of “cutting a covenant” to BURN into Abraham’s mind the fact that GOD WILL BE FAITHFUL. God will keep His promises
So God didn’t rebuke Abraham for his complaint. Instead, He reassured him.
We have looked at GOD’S RESPONSE, but also let’s look at-
II. GOD’S REACTION
Why didn’t God give Abraham his child right then instead?
You and I struggle with those same questions in our lives. “Why doesn’t God deal with my problem NOW?”
That was what Abraham wanted. That’s why he was adopting Eliezer as his servant. He FELT he needed a solution to his problem, and he needed it NOW.
Why? Why would God do it that way? Well, it could be for several reasons, such as:
A. THE TIME ISN’T RIGHT
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger tells that when his oldest son was around 8 years of age, he had a female friend that he thought a lot of that lived very near. And she thought a lot of him also. One day he said to his dad, “Dad, I need to talk to you about something important?” So he sat down beside him to see what was on his mind. He said, “Dad, Sheila and I want to get married!” Needless to say, Dr. Belger was shocked because he planned to have this talk about 12 to 15 years from then. His son said, “Dad, before you say ‘No’, we have talked about several things I know you will be concerned about.”
• “We can live at her house or our house. And if you do not like that idea, I will keep living at our house and she can keep living at her house.”
• “I know you are concerned about how we can make money. I can sell coke bottles and she is willing to get a paper route.”
These two young people had everything worked out and it was not a bad idea, the problem was THE TIME WAS NOT RIGHT!
We have to always remember that God does things according to HIS TIME CLOCK, not ours.
B. THE PEOPLE AROUND US AREN’T READY
Sometimes churches will struggle to survive for years. All of a sudden, God will begin to bless that church and it will begin to multiply in membership, and they have a difficult time building buildings fast enough to contain the people.
Most of the great churches across this vast land started in someone’s living room or garage. Years went by, as God began to add to the body of Christ just the right people, and when the time was right, God began to bless.
Illus: If God sent folks out to some churches today:
• There would be visitors in the classroom and no teacher to teach them. Those churches do not have the right teachers
• There would be no ushers to greet them and open the doors for the ladies
• There would be no musicians to play the instruments to sing by
• There would be no choir director to direct the singing
But when God gets all the right teachers and ushers in the church, then God can begin to bless that church.
Many times, folks go to church and they can’t figure out what is going on. God can’t bless because the people around us aren’t ready.
God is in the business of taking people who are not what they should be, and building them up to what He knows they can be.
All this is in HIS TIME. That means that He won’t give us what we believe we need WHEN we believe we need it. God will supply our needs at just the right time, and in just the right way.
Conclusion:
Remember this promise in Romans 8:28, we read, “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”
• That doesn’t necessarily mean that all things are from God
• That doesn’t necessarily mean that all things are good
• BUT it does mean that in ALL THINGS God will work for your good because you love Him, and He’s called you according to His purposes.
We have looked at:
I. GOD’S RESPONSE
II. GOD’S REACTION
Note: You can hear many of Dr. Odell Belger sermons on you tube. Type Youtube Lykesland
