Introduction
The young preacher was shocked to hear the well-known evangelist utter the words; “Yes, I have spent some of the happiest moments of my life in the arms of another man’s wife.” Then, following a pause, the evangelist added, “That woman was my mother.” A few weeks later as the young pastor was speaking to a civic group, the phrase leaped into his mind. He exclaimed, “I have spent some of the happiest days of my life in the arms of another man’s wife.” Then after a long pause, the young man muttered meekly, “But for the life of me I can’t remember who she was.”
Mothers certainly have a great influence on a family, but so do fathers. Families are the crucible in which character is formed. The types of character we see in many children now who come from broken families enforces this conclusion.
Chuck Swindoll said of the family, “Whatever else may be said about the home, it is the bottom line of life, the anvil upon which attitudes and convictions are hammered out. It is the place where life’s bills come due, the single most influential force in our earthly existence.”
A family which has its priorities right has a much better chance of succeeding. We, as Christians, should take care to make sure we have the proper priorities in place for our families. This is especially true since in our time we are often so caught up in other pursuits. Some questions come to mind. What are your priorities in family life? Do you have spiritual priorities for your family? How does your faith relate to your family?
Today, we want to look at an episode in the life of Abraham and Sarah as well as an incident in Moses’ life. Abraham is known as the father of the faithful, yet he had some major problems in his family that we would do well to avoid.
Back in chapter 15, God appeared to Abram in a vision. In response to God’s word, Abram said to God, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since I don’t have a son, Eliezar of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no children, so one of my servants will have to be my heir.”
God’s response to Abram was, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for your will have a son of your own to inherit everything I am giving you.”
Obviously God was not working quickly enough for Abram’s wife Sarai. Now maybe she did not know that God had given this word to her husband. Can you just hear her, “Abram, you know, this God thing just isn’t working. We need to help him along. You know the old saying, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’
Sarai made a suggestion that was very much in keeping with the custom of the times, but it was certainly not in God’s plan. She told Abram to take her servant Hagar and to have children by her. These children would in turn belong to Sarai. Abram did as his wife suggested and, Hagar bore him a son named Ishmael.
In the verses we read, we see that God appeared to Abraham again and told him about this son. This time Sarah heard about God’s promise for sure. She laughed in response to God’s promise because she was old and she was married to an old man too. They were both long past the age of being able to have children. But like Forrest Gump said when his friend challenged God to show up, “About that time God showed up.”
BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL PROVIDE
As faithful as Abraham was, he still obviously had some occasions in his life when he forgot that God would provide for him and his family. He was afraid that one of his servants would have to be his heir. Even though God appeared to him and promised him that this would not be the case, he still listened to the advice of his wife and married her servant and had a child for his wife through her. Sarai gave bad advice, but instead of questioning her suggestion, Abram went along with the bad plan.
God overruled in the situation even though he let Abram and Sarai go ahead with their plans. He gave Abram a son through Sarai’s servant Hagar, but he also gave Sarah a son by Abraham. God had promised Abram a son, and he proved to him that he would provide for him. God promised to make Abraham’s descendants as numerous as the stars in the heaven and the sands on the seashore. He would do this through a blood son by his wife Sarah.
Abraham must have learned a lesson about God’s provision from this episode in his life. Later when it came time for his son, Isaac, to be married, he did not want him to marry any pagan women from the land of Canaan. He made arrangements for his servant to return to his original homeland, Mesopotamia, and there to find a wife for his son. He believed God would provide.
In response to Abraham’s request, his servant said, “But suppose I can’t find a young woman who will travel so far from home? May I then take Isaac there to live among your relatives?”
Then Abraham said, “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my native land, solemnly promised to give this land to my offspring. He will send his angel ahead of you, and he will see to it that you find a young woman there to be my son’s wife.”
Abraham had to trust that God would provide just the right woman for his son. He had to trust that God would give his servant wisdom in the selection of this woman. He also had to believe that God would superintend all the circumstances surrounding the selection of this bride.
Abraham’s faith in God’s provision was rewarded. God led the servant to Rebekah, and she was willing to travel back with Abraham’s servant to marry a man she had never seen before.
Now Rebekah had the same problem Sarah had. She could not have children. I wonder whether or not Abraham had told Isaac how he and his mother had tried to help God along. Whether or not they did is immaterial at this point. Isaac made a better choice in relying on God’s provision than did his father.
When Isaac discovered that his wife could not have children, we read that he “prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she could not have children, and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.”
This story teaches that we as individuals need to trust God for his provision of our needs. It teaches further that we need to trust God to provide for our families. Jesus said, “So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly father already knows all your needs, and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the kingdom of God your primary concern.”
The lesson is for us to trust God for what we need in our families. The God who knows when a sparrow falls to the ground certainly knows our needs. Sometimes it is hard to trust him for our needs. Sometimes, even the smallest needs appear to be unscalable mountains. When you are facing a financial need and you don’t know where the money is going to come from, it seems as if you are facing a mountain. When you find out your job has been terminated, you are out of work, and you have not made plans for a change, it seems as if you are facing a mountain. When one of your children gets into trouble or hurt and embarrassed and you don’t know where to turn, it appears as if you are climbing a mountain. When you sit across from the doctor and he tells you the news is not good, you are facing a mountain.
We know that life is not fair, and sometimes things are tough in the family. When we are standing in the middle of this great mountain range of difficulties, we sometimes don’t think we can go around or over. What are we going to do? Trust God for what you need. He is the mountain mover. God has promised us that with faith we can move mountains. When it comes to your family, trust that God will provide.
Some of you have heard the story of the man who was caught in the flood. As the water rose and began to surround his house, he had to run, first to the upstairs and finally to the roof. As he was sitting on the roof waiting for the flood waters to subside, he seemed to be very peaceful and self-assured. Two men in a row boat came by and offered to take him to safety. But he told them, “No, I am just going to trust in the Lord.” Several hours passed and a couple men in a motor boat came by and offered again to take him to safety. Again he responded, “No, I am just going to trust in the Lord.” The waters continued to rise, and finally a helicopter came by. The men in the helicopter offered to lower a ladder and transport him to safety. Again he refused saying, “No thank you, I am just going to trust in the Lord.” Well, instead of subsiding, the flood waters continued to rise. The waters covered his house, and he drowned. As he was ushered into heaven, he began to complain to one of the angels. He said, “I trusted God, and what did it get me? I was sitting on my roof trusting that God would cause the flood waters to subside, and he didn’t. Where was God when I needed him?” The angel replied, “Well, he sent you two boats and a helicopter, what else did you want him to do?”
God will provide for our families. His means of provision might not be what we had imagined, but he will provide, and we need to trust him for that provision in whatever form it might come.
BELIEVE THAT GOD WILL PROTECT
We can appeal to another story for this aspect of family life. In Exodus, there is the story of Amram and Jochobed. They were the parents of Moses, a very famous biblical figure who led God’s people out of Egyptian slavery.
Normally when a son was born in a Jewish family, there was great rejoicing, but in Moses’ time there was a problem. The ruler in Egypt had decided that since the Jews were multiplying so quickly some action needed to be taken to curtail this scenario. Otherwise they might join with Egypt’s enemies and fight against them. He gave an order that all male children were to be killed by drowning in the Nile River.
In spite of these circumstances, Moses’ parents decided to hide him instead of killing him. His mother made a little basket, put him in it, and placed him in the Nile River. Had they been found out, the penalty would probably have been severe and Moses would have been killed.
The writer of Hebrews says of Moses’ parents, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”
They trusted God to protect their family. God rewarded their faith. God guided that little basket down the Nile River into the arms of Pharaoh’s daughter. She sent for a Hebrew to nurse the child. Moses’ sister happened to witness the incident, and she offered to go and get the Hebrew nurse. Of course, she got her mother. Moses ended up back in his own home for a time and then was raised in the finest glory of Egypt in the king’s home. He enjoyed the finest education Egypt could provide and enjoyed all the privileges of being a member of the Royal family. God protected him and his family.
We must trust God to protect our family. Folks listen, we can run ourselves crazy trying to protect our family. This is not to say that we should not protect our family, but we can’t protect our children from everything that might happen to them. There are things that are beyond our control. They are out of our sight. Sometimes they will make unwise decisions. We have to trust God with our mates. We have to trust God with our children. Sometimes it is difficult to trust God with those who are so close to us. We want to jump in and try to provide the protection ourselves. We must trust God.
From the anxiety of a mother sending her child alone to school on the first day, to the fears of a father entrusting his precious daughter to her husband. The challenge is to have faith in God’s protection.
Listen to this Father’s Prayer of Enlightenment: “Dear Heavenly Father, can you forgive me for hurting my children? I came from a poor background, so I thought that a big house would make my children feel important. I didn’t realize that all it takes is my love. I thought money would bring them happiness, but all it did was make them think that things were more important than people. I thought spanking them would make them tough so that they could defend themselves. All it did was stop me from seeking wisdom so that I could discipline and teach them. I thought that leaving them alone would make them independent. All it did was force my one son to be the father to my second son. I thought that by smoothing over all the family problems I was keeping peace. All I was teaching them was to run rather than lead. I thought that by pretending to be the perfect family in public that I was bringing them respectability. All I was teaching them was to live a lie and keep a secret. I thought all I had to do to be a father was make money, stay at home, and supply all their material needs. All I taught them was that there was more to being a dad. The problem is that they will have to guess what being a dad really is. And dear God, I hope you can read this prayer. My tears have smudged a lot of words.
BELIEVE IN GOD’S PROVIDENCE
The Bible reminds us that we are to “train up a child in the way he or she should go, and when they are old they will not depart from it.” God gifts our children and we must trust him to providentially guide them where he wants them to go.
We also return to the story of Abraham and Sarah as well as Isaac and Rebekah for this element. Abraham and Sarah had to learn to trust the providence of God to give them the son he had promised to them. Abraham had to trust the providence of God in leading his servant to a wife for his son Isaac. Isaac had to learn to trust the providence of God in giving he and his wife a son.
The great apostle Paul wrote; “For I know whom I have believed in and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him.” God uses and guards what we entrust to him. When we trust God with our finances, he will use them to meet our family’s needs and also to advance his work. When we trust him with our work, he can use us as an example to our fellow workers as to how a Christian should respond to the pressures of the workplace. When we trust him with our marriage, he can show our children what a marriage should be like-how Christ can be the head of the home and how families can get along in spite of the pressures we face. When we trust him with our lives, he can use us to share the good news with a watching world of what a difference Christ can make in a person’s life.
CONCLUSION
Theodore Roosevelt said in 1917, “No other success in life-not being president, or being wealthy, or going to college, or writing a book, or anything else-comes up to the success of the man or woman who can feel that they have done their duty and that their children and grandchildren rise up and called them blessed.”
We must trust God for the provision, protection and providence of our families.
