YEHOVAH YIREH III

And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
Genesis 21:1-2

•  PROMISE KEEPER

Twenty five years after He made His initial promise, God enabled Sarah to conceive. She gave birth to a son and they named their baby Isaac, just as God had spoken. Sarah was still half in wonder, she could not believe that finally and at her age she was holding her own son. Isaac grew and was weaned and Abraham celebrated that same day with a great feast. Isaac was long-prayed for and his parents did not take his life for granted. He both loved him and continued to celebrate his life. 

Gratitude is a necessary element of faith. Upon the birth of Isaac, Abraham followed all of God's commandments. He continued to live a righteous lifestyle, following instruction from God. When you receive a blessing, and you will, receive it with gratitude...retain it with faith and continued commitment to God. Celebrate it with love. 

Our God is a promise keeper. The Bible is stuffed and loaded with all of the promises He has made and you can count on each one of them. You can count on Him.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice because of God, communicate with Him, express gratitude toward Him. Such is the proper care and handling of blessing.

•  NOW I KNOW 

At this point, we are aware of how much of a blessing Isaac's life was to Abraham and Sarah. They prayed hard, waited long, and persisted in faith. That is only part of the reason so many people are shocked and even disturbed by what happened to Abraham one night: God instructed him to offer young Isaac up as a sacrifice. Abraham rose up early in the morning to do it.

Don't panic: Abraham knew that God would not actually require him to sacrifice Isaac.

Isaac was the promise fulfilled. The conduit through which the ultimate, initial blessing would come. God told Abraham so: "...but my covenant I will establish with Isaac (Genesis 17:21 But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.)." And what was the covenant?

And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you...

Genesis 17:9-10

Abraham rose up early in the morning to follow God's command because He knew that God had made a promise to him, had established a covenant with him, and both relied upon Isaac. After they climbed the the mountain together and prepared the altar for a sacrifice, Isaac asked Abraham: "Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

But this question is not ironic or awkward or pitiable! Abraham confidently, faithful answered Isaac: "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." Indeed Abraham trusted God so much that he was able to place Isaac on the alter and even lift his knife...

He was halted by God: “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” And then God provided an animal.

Abraham knew that God would not allow harm to be done to Isaac... and God then knew that Abraham would not falter in faith in God. Abraham would never withhold anything from God; He understood that everything he had was from God. He believed that God was a promise keeper and therefore he never believed that Isaac was at risk. He was willing to submit everything, His whole life and every element of it, to God's will because He trusted God with it. All of it.

•  YEHOVEH YIREH

Abraham named that place Yehoveh Yireh: God will provide. God had provided all his life. He will provide for yours. The story of Abraham and Isaac, a father, sacrificing his son should sound familiar. Indeed Genesis 22 foreshadows Jesus' resurrection. The son of God sacrificed for humanity. God provided the Lamb: Jesus, who would volunteer Himself to serve as proof of God's word and eternal kingdom.

This this expedition with Abraham and Issac, forces us to realize that God will always provide more than He expects us to give... even though it is we  who owe Him everything.

Abraham is a prominent figure in the Bible when faith is discussed:  

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Hebrews 11:8-10 

... because  faith makes the difference between dwelling in the House of God or the Heap of Ruin. Give God full authority in your life, be grateful He takes it. Let His will override your desire. Trust His timing; submit to the wait. It's not easy but it's wise. It's not always fun but it's always good. When God decides what comes in, what goes out and when we will see that we are well and truly provided for.

YEHOVEH YIREH II

God made a promise to Abraham: descendants as plenteous as the stars; fulfillment of the hope in the hearts of Abraham and Sarah. But that had not happened yet, and circumstances seemed bleak. Abraham and Sarah were advanced in age. Sarah suffered the stigma of the time as an infertile woman. Abraham and Sarah were likely the topic of much gossip: their prosperous marriage but lack of an heir. 

Desperation caused them to act, to disengage a little in their submission to God's will and arrange their own outcome. And who among us hasn't once (read: many times) done that? We have faith in God's will, so did Abraham, but we seem sometimes unable to resist... jump-starting it. It is a triumph of faith when we are able to submit completely to God's will (as completely as we humanly can), but it can be difficult to live so seemingly... passively. Certainly on the contrary, submission to God's will requires  fierce loyalty, extreme patience, deep discernment and wholehearted effort. It requires a lot, which is why we sometimes... falter.  

• (Genesis 17:1-9): THAT I MAY OBTAIN

Sarah was prepared to arrange her own outcome. It was acceptable in her time that a maidservant could bear a child of her master's husband and be claimed legitimately. Sarah thought that if she at least arranged for Abraham to have an heir, she would lessen the pressure of the stigma. She thought that it was her only way to have a family. So Sarah instructed her maidservant, Hagar, and Abraham to marry and conceive a child.

Hagar conceived and suddenly her status changed. She was more than a servant and she knew it; as Hagar realized her new prominence, she was less deferential to Sarah. And Sarah was deeply bothered. She regretted her interference and was no longer gracious to Hagar. Sarah's unfriendly behavior even caused Hagar to flee with her baby (a sermon for another day). 

Ultimately, Sarah muddied the waters; acting on desperation always does. She added complication to her life and further heaviness to her heart. She involved others in that complication and heaviness. But Sarah also taught a great lesson: we must not attempt obtain by any means necessary, simply because we are impatient for, or in disagreement with, God's timing.

• (Genesis 17:15-27; Genesis 18:1-22) : INCREDIBLE PATIENCE, INCREDULOUS JOY

God continued to encourage Abraham to live a righteous lifestyle; He promised that if Abraham did so God would establish a covenant between them. The same spiritual contract is extended toward us. When we commit to following God, He commits to leading us into blessing. 

It had been many years since God initially made a promise to Abraham, but there was still no baby; but the promise never went away or changed or delayed. God was preparing to bring it into fruition, the baby into Sarah's womb. God met Abraham once again, this time to explain the details of the birth. 

At this point God changed their names from Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah... father and mother of nations. They were about to be parents together. And though God blessed Abraham's child with Hagar (Ishmael), His promise would be fulfilled through Abraham's child with Sarah. Upon hearing this, Abraham laughed. He was incredulous... joy and disbelief mingled within him. Before departing, God informed Abraham that his son with Sarah would be named Isaac, and would be born in the coming year.

Sarah laughed too, though perhaps with more disbelief than Abraham. To which God responded: Is anything too hard for the Lord? We overthink and overwork ourselves with worry because we forget that in fact nothing is too hard for our God.

Understand that God is in the details and His timing is intentional and perfect. He knows the names of the people and things that are yet to come into our lives. Though we stare into the future and sometimes see only impossibility, God stares into our future and sees the details of the hopes and prayers realized in our lives. If He has promised it, He has initiated its creation and established the time of its delivery. "It" is different for all of us, though often we share hopes and dreams and prayers; but in Romans 8:28 God promised that all things would work together for good to those who love the Lord. So no matter what is coming, it will be a good thing, even if it is an answer to a prayer we didn't think to make.

• (Genesis 20): CAUSED TO WANDER

Realize that Abraham and Sarah were consistently caused to wander by God. God's plan, purpose and blessing unfolded throughout the journey. It is important for us to take note of that because we often expect to arrive at a blessing. Instead, God delivers them to us as we move along His path for us. Our God multitasks. He is accomplishing multiple things for, around and within us at all times. It was His opinion that Abraham and Sarah were not ready to be parents twenty-five years prior to when they actually became them.

We are not always going to agree with God's timing. In fact, while we are in the process of waiting for a blessing, we will probably think His timing entirely inconvenient. It is helpful if we consciously prevent ourselves from fixating on only one specific thing and instead open our awareness.  A broader view of God's plan for our lives will enable us to learn and grow, receive and appreciate other blessings while still holding hope for that special one in the distance.

Because Abraham and Sarah were vastly blessed. Their story fixates on their specific prayer, and their other blessings fall by the wayside. Abraham and Sarah were healthy. Their marriage was secure and happy. Their blessings and their relationship with God allowed them to rescue and assist their family members in times of trouble. They were prosperous. God directed them away from desolate places and dishonest people. Abraham prayed to become a father but might have overlooked that God made him a leader and prophet, and blessed him with all of the skills to do both properly.

Desperation must not caused us to discard our truest blessing, the one we never have to wait for: God. Because even if waiting is a battle in our lives, it is one we cannot win without Him.

THE ELDEST SERVANT

Isaac and Rebekah came together in an, according to our modern, social conventions, unconventional way. Isaac, the son of Abraham, with whom God made an everlasting covenant: "I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you" (Genesis 17:7), and Rebekah would become the parents of twins, specifically a son: Jacob. Jacob, whose name would be changed by God to "Israel" would be the patriarch of the twelve tribes that would become the House of Israel, and later the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Even more specifically, they would be (many generations removed) great-grandparents of Mary, through whom Jesus would come and fulfill God's promise to Abraham: "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:18)

The story of their marriage is sweet, though unconventional, for it was divinely planned by God. Wonder surrounds the story of

their family. for they would be crucial to the lineage through which our Messiah would arrive. Yet amidst all of the sweet wonder was a man, often overlooked, who was the instrument through which God arranged it. His name was Eliezer, and we have something important to learn from him. . 

• ELIEZER OF DAMASCAS

Abraham and Sarah are known for their decades-long infertility. Their initial inability to produce children was especially apparent in their historical context, when neighbors made it their personal business to dismay over, and discuss the social dilemma of a childless couple. Abraham and Sarah were a childless-couple, but they were also a wealthy couple.

God had blessed amply blessed them; they possessed land, livestock, provision and even jewelry abundant. It was the pride of a father to pass that down to his children as an inheritance, to keep the wealth in the family, and the family prominent. But Abraham had no children. He did however, have an heir: Eliezer. We learn from Genesis 15 that Eliezer was set to inherit Abraham's house and all it encompassed.

God changed Abraham's chosen heir, Eliezer, to Abraham's second-born son: Isaac. But we cannot neglect to acknowledge that Eliezer was considered worthy of Abraham's house, even if Abraham longed for a child to replace him as heir. Abraham trusted Eliezer from the beginning and continued to trust him at the end. 

• ELDEST SERVANT

When Abraham became elderly, and Sarah had died, it become important to him to ensure that Isaac was properly married. Abraham was too old to undertake the task himself so he chose Eliezer, his eldest and most trusted servant. Eliezer is referred to as Abraham's servant, but that word does not adequately describe his position in Abraham's house. Genesis 24 tells us that Eliezer "ruled over all that [Abraham] had." 

Not only had Abraham trusted Eliezer with the content and management of his entire, substantial household, he began a request concerning his precious Isaac, his long-prayed for child:

"And I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

Genesis 24:3-4

It was imperative to Abraham that Isaac be married to someone within the covenant, that is: of Abraham's family, because it was imperative to God that it be so. A wife outside-of-the-faith would derail Isaac, and any subsequent children, into the worship of false-gods and behavior below the bar God set generations back with Noah. 

So Eliezer promised Abraham that he would find a suitable wife for Isaac and set out on the journey. Eliezer then did a simple, but extraordinary thing: he prayed to God:

“O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

Genesis 24:12

Eliezer prayed for Godspeed in his mission. He communicated God, he endeavored in God's will. And by doing so, we are reminded to do the same. As we undertake any task, we exemplify our love and faith in God when we include Him in it. It is imperative that we align our mission with God's will, so that our journey is undertaken with not only His permission, but also His presence and provision simultaneous with His plan.

Fluidity and success in any of our endeavors requires the inclusion of God. Eliezer understood that, and therefore be begin to understand why Abraham trusted him so much. He was a faithful man... faithful to Abraham but also, more importantly, to God. 

• GOD IS HELP

Eliezer's named means: God is help. And Eliezer understood that. So, instead of praying at the beginning of his journey and then omitting God from the situation, Eliezer continued to consult God. Eliezer prayed that God would assist him in identifying the right woman... and mid-prayer, Rebekah came along.

Rebekah arrived at the well where Eliezer prayed, and quickly, modestly, unwittingly demonstrated herself to be a beautiful, kind and hard-working woman. She was also, not-coincidentally, a suitable bride for Isaac as she was of Abraham's family. Rebekah gave Eliezer a pitcher of water to drink, which would have been much welcomed in a such a warm, dry region after a long travel. She then took it upon herself to give water to the camels Eliezer brought with him. 

Though Rebekah seemed a more-than-adequate choice, Eliezer remained loyal to Abraham and thus to God's plan. He ensured that Rebekah was of Abraham's family. And when he learned that she, officially, was Eliezer did another simple, extraordinary thing: he bowed down and worshiped the Lord. 

A lot of people readily pray to God when they begin a thing they desperately want to go well... but considerably less people remember to thank God when it actually does. Eliezer did so immediately:

Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”

Genesis 24:26-27

Our covenant with God is a relationship. Communication is crucial, and so is gratitude. In any relationship, it's important to acknowledge the effort of the other person involved; to love the character of the other person; and to include them in our lives. God is, metaphorically, our well of living water but we do not only draw from it/Him. We sit by it/Him. We spend time and thought with Him. We remember its/His faithful provision with gratitude when we contemplate the quenching of whatever thirst we had that God satisfied. 

• WHICH LED ME IN THE RIGHT WAY

Eliezer was led to and welcomed into Rebekah's family home. Upon arrival, Eliezer was received with great hospitality; his animals were taken care of and a small feast was laid before him. But before Eliezer would rest and eat, he remained focused on his divinely-led mission. He told the details of his mission from beginning to end, in full detail, and described the family Rebekah would potentially join. At the culmination of his presentation, Rebekah's family, and Rebekah herself, agreed.

Arrangements were made subsequent to Rebekah's willingness to marry Isaac, gifts were distributed. Abraham had sent Eliezer with provisional gifts for Isaac's bride and her family. They ate and then Eliezer expressed an intention to return directly to Abraham and Isaac. Again Eliezer exemplifies to us the concentrated faith we need to have (or at least need to strive to have) in all of our endeavors. 

When all was settled, Eliezer prayed and thanked God. Though God's presence is less tangible in this account, understand, as Eliezer understood, that He was present. He led and blessed the whole mission. Eliezer included God in it, and that is the only and precise reason for its success. The more attuned we are to God, the less we are hindered, delayed or even thwarted by distraction.

Eliezer could have easily spoiled his situation in Abraham's house by being untrustworthy or lazy. He could have easily failed his mission by not ensuring he acted in accordance with God's will. He could have lazily indulged in the prominence Abraham gave him, or the in the treatment Rebekah's family showed him. Instead he remained honest, faithful, and focused. He was specific to include God in each step of his way.

Remember that the covenant was established as an everlasting promise to perpetual generations, and to all the earth. That means the covenant was established between God and you. He promised to be your God. Within that title He is a Father, Counselor, Friend, Advocate, Guide, Haven and so much more. Therefore claim that promise, you are its heir! You are an heir to the inheritance of God. Act accordingly, through faith draw God's presence into your life; He will not leave but you must keep Him there. We do so by praying to Him before we begin something, consulting Him as we do it, and by thanking Him after it is accomplished. All throughout life. God is your help.