In the introduction, I mentioned that we would be learning a few lessons from the life of Abraham. We would learn what it means to Trust in God and what it means to Worship Him.
TRUSTING GOD
Abraham had to learn that trusting God meant not merely intellectual belief, but also being emptied of self-sufficiency and self-dependence.
In Genesis 15 (where the word "believe" occurs n verse 6), the paragraph begins with the words, "After these things..."(v. 1). If we look int the previous chapter, to which the phrase refers, indicates that the time was of great triumph in Abraham's life. With 318 untrained servants, he had gone out and defeated the armies of four kings. And then at the end of all that, if we read further, we see that had conducted himself so nobly before the king of Sodom, refusing to take any reward for his efforts. God had helped him marvelously on both these occasions. Now, in the hour of this triumph, it was so easy for Abraham to feel self-sufficient.
At such a time, God spoke to Abraham and told him that he was going to have a son. And not only that, but God also said that through that son would come a seed that would be like the stars of the heaven for number. It looked almost impossible, but Abraham believed the Lord (Gen. 15:6). The Hebrew word translated "believe" here is "aman" which is the word we use at the end of our prayers: "Amen". It means, "It shall be so". When God told Abraham that he was going to have a son, he replied with an "Amen", meaning in essence, "Lord, I don't know how this is going to take place. But since You have said it, I believe it shall be so."
God's promise looked difficult of fulfillment because Sarah was barren. Of course, Abraham himself was still fertile. So there was some hope. In other words, the promise was not exactly impossible, but certainly difficult.
Helping God out of a tight spot
After Abraham heard God's promise, he must have reasoned with himself and said, "Well, I suppose, I should help God out in this situation, since Sarah is barren". And so he readily accepted Sarah's suggestion to unite with Hagar her maid. He sincerely desired to help God. He felt that God was in a tight spot, having made a promise that could not, humanly speaking, be fulfilled. And so, to save God out of this awkward situation, Abraham united with Hagar and produced Ishmael! But God rejected Ishmael as unacceptable, for he was the product of man's self-effort.
Today, so much of our motivation for Christian work in our day arises out of the same reasoning that Abraham had. Many believers are led to believe that God is depending on their efforts and that if they let Him down, His purposes will not be fulfilled! Things apparently have not worked out as God planned and as a result He is in a tight spot now! Some exhortations to Christian service gives us the impression that the Almighty is now at His wit's end and is desperately in need of our help!
Of course God uses human agency for the outworking of His purposes. He has voluntarily accepted this limitation because He wants us to have the privilege of cooperating with Him in His work. But that does not mean that if we disobey Him, His work will remain undone. We should understand that He is a Sovereign God. There is certainly a work for Jesus that wee can do; but if we don't do it, He will just pass us by and get someone else to do the job - and we shall miss the privilege of being God's co-workers.
We need to realize this fact that God can carry on His work very well without our help. If our service for God originates out of any idea that we are helping God out of a tight spot, we shall only produce unacceptable Ishmaels. That service which has its roots in human energy, fleshly wisdom, human ability and natural talents (even at their very best) is totally unacceptable to God. Ishmael may be smart and impressive and we might even cry out to God just like Abraham did, "Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee" (Gen. 17:18). But God's answer to our Ishmael is "No. He was born through your strength, Abraham. So I cannot accept Him, however good he may be".
And so it is with the service that originates from ourselves. God did not accept it then, and He certainly will not accept it today! If there is any human explanation for our Christian service - be it be merely the result of excellent theological training that our sharp minds have brought together, or made possible because we have access to enough finances to support ourselves in the Christian work - then however impressive our work may appear in the eyes of men, it will be burnt up in the day of reckoning as wood, hay and straw. That day will reveal the multitude of "Ishmaels" produced by well meaning Christians, who were never emptied of their self-sufficiency.
The only work that will abide for eternity is that which is produced in humble dependence upon the power of God's Holy Spirit. May God help us to learn that lesson now, instead of having regrets at Christ's judgement seat.
Hope you all learnt some lessons from the above chapter. In the next issue, I would be presenting on "Works of faith" and "Man's extremity - God's opportunity". I would like to take this time to thank Zac Poonen for his wonderful book "Beauty for Ashes". The above has been taken from the same book.
I would like all my Brothers and Sisters in Christ to pray for me so that the Lord Almighty guide me, not in presenting the words from other people but also to open my mind His Holy Words and understand them and first accept those words in my life and then present those words to you all.
Your humble Brother in Christ
Jobin George
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