Next on my interview list is Abram. You probably know him better as Abraham. I have many questions for this man who was called a friend of God. Let\u2019s get this conversation started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Q: Tell me your story. How did your complicated journey begin?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My family had settled in Haran\u2014my father, my wife Sarai, and my nephew Lot. I was minding my own business looking after the family when the Lord spoke to me about plans he had for my future. He said, \u201cGo\u2026away from your country, from your relatives and your father\u2019s house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing\u2026in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed\u2026\u201d (Genesis 12:1-3 The Amplified Bible).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: That\u2019s huge! What was your immediate response?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I said, who, me? I was seventy-five years old! Life was good and rather ordinary. Leave my home? What could I say? This was God speaking! So I took Sarai and Lot and all our possessions and we traveled to a region called Canaan. The Lord appeared to me and said, \u201cUnto thy seed will I give this land\u201d (12:7). Keep in mind, my wife and I had no children. As the years passed without a child, I reminded the Lord of his promise and even suggested that a steward in my house could be my heir, a custom of our day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: Didn\u2019t that provoke the Lord?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, he didn\u2019t grab me by the shoulders and yell, \u201cAre you listening?\u201d as many a disgruntled parent has done a questioning child. He just patiently explained that a son coming from my own body would be my heir. He led me outside and told me to look at the heavens and count the stars. \u201cSo shall your descendants be,\u201d he said. Strange as it seemed, I believed him! And you know, the Lord counted it as righteousness\u2014right standing with God\u201d (15:6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: Did you ever grow weary waiting on God?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you think? Have you ever waited twenty-five years to receive a promise? I guess you heard about Sarai\u2019s big idea to have a child by her maidservant Hagar. I was eighty-six when Ishmael was born, and I loved that boy. I wanted him to be the one through whom the Lord\u2019s blessing would come. But that wasn\u2019t the plan. I was ninety-nine when the Lord repeated his promise to make a great nation through me. He would give me a son through Sarai, declaring she would be a mother of nations. He changed our names to Abraham and Sarah. When I was 100 years old and Sarah past ninety\u2014I know it\u2019s hard to believe\u2014she gave birth to the son God had promised. He told me to name the child Isaac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q: Abraham, you were in a hard place. The Lord had made large promises, but human reasoning declared the promises futile. Still you believed\u2026and grew old waiting. What kept you going through long years when nothing seemed to be happening? How did you keep on believing and trusting God?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I had a calling from God. He gave clear instructions. And he never abandoned me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “And [so] the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed in (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on) God, and this was accounted to him as righteousness (as conformity to God’s will in thought and deed), and he was called God’s friend” (James 2:23; see also Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abraham believed in (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on) God, and this was accounted to him as righteousness (as conformity to God's will in thought and deed), and he was called God's friend. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAgainst all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, \u2018So shall your offspring be.\u2019 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead\u2014since he was about a hundred years old\u2014and that Sarah\u2019s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why \u2018it was credited to him as righteousness.\u2019 The words \u2018it was credited to him as righteousness\u2019 were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness\u2014for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead\u201d (Romans 4:18-24).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through one man\u2019s unflinching obedience, God built a nation for himself, a chosen people\u2014as numerous as the stars in the heavens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When God makes a promise, it\u2019s a done deal. It will happen just as he said. The problem for us: usually he doesn\u2019t say when<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Waiting isn\u2019t one of my strengths. I\u2019m the let\u2019s-get-it-done type. I\u2019m willing to wait a reasonable time. But twenty-five years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m thinking that Abraham wasn\u2019t the same man at Isaac\u2019s birth as he was when he received the promise of this son. I\u2019m thinking the Lord had a lot of work to do to make the man worthy of his calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If God makes a promise and delays fulfillment, he hasn\u2019t changed his mind. Likely he just has more work to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If God makes a promise and delays fulfillment, he hasn\u2019t changed his mind. Likely he just has more work to do. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Please tell me about an experience when you\u2019ve waited on God. Maybe you\u2019re waiting now. I\u2019d love to hear your story. And I\u2019d appreciate your sharing this with your friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Dianne Barker 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Next on my interview list is Abram. You probably know him better as Abraham. I have many questions for this man who was called a friend of God. Let\u2019s get this conversation started. Q: Tell me your story. How did your complicated journey begin? My family had settled in Haran\u2014my father, my wife Sarai, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[90,9,533,438,534],"class_list":["post-1320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-abraham","tag-dianne-barker","tag-if-god-delays-likely-he-has-more-work-to-do","tag-living-the-maximum-life","tag-promises-fulfilled"],"yoast_head":"\n