Side Bets

Passage: Genesis 20:1-18

Abraham’s story begins when God approaches him and says,

Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

Who knows exactly how God said it.  But God's voice was clear enough that Abraham did what God said.  God spoke distinctly, personally, and supernaturally to Abraham.

And God did so not only to give Abraham a command, but to make an audacious promise: Your offspring will be more numerous than the stars in the sky, and your name will be remembered forever.

God repeats this promise more than once.  God signs a blood oath to guarantee his promise.  And God proceeds to protect and provide for Abraham at every step of his journey.

All of this is remarkable enough.  Even more remarkable is the fact that Abraham consistently demonstrates a lack of trust in what God says.  Throughout Scripture Abraham is held up as a shining example of faith.  And yet Abraham repeatedly does things to ensure his own fortunes.  He fathers a child by his wife’s maidservant, not trusting God to give him a child within his own marriage.  And not once, but twice, Abraham passes his wife off as his sister while passing through enemy territory.  Both times, God intervenes miraculously to protect Sarah’s virtue.  The second time, Abraham confesses that this is an agreement he asked Sarah to make when they left his homeland: This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.”  Recall that Abraham left his homeland because God spoke directly to him and told him to go.  Even as he acted in faith, Abraham maintained this side bet – just in case God didn’t come through.

Is the story of Abraham the story of a man of unwavering faith?  No.  It’s the story of a God who, in spite of our side bets and shortcomings, is unwavering in his faithfulness.  The most remarkable aspect of Abraham’s story is that God makes good his promise regardless of what Abraham does on the side. 

The lesson?  If God promises it, he’ll do it.  Nothing we do can ensure God’s action nor deter him from it.  The challenge is for us to trust God to follow through on his commitments, understanding that God will deliver when and how he intends to do so.  And trusting that God has good reasons for doing it his way.