Quit Playing Dress Up With Your Calling: What You See With Your Eyes
"Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children." (Genesis 16:1a ESV)
Sarai was in a confusing and stressful situation. At 75 years old, her husband was called by God to leave the land he had been in all his life and go to a land that God would reveal and there he would be made into a great nation. (Genesis 12:1-3)
Sounds amazing right? God himself gives an epic quest with promises of blessings and not only for you but for your whole family, which God also promises will be huge - a great nation.
What an amazing, promise-filled time that must have been. I can imagine Sarai packing up to get ready to start their journey. A bit scary? Sure. Nerve-wracking? You bet. But they had a promise and the road they were starting out on was the road to seeing all their dreams come true. Sarai probably started thinking of baby names that night. I'm sure as she traveled she held her hand over her womb protectively wondering if a child was already on the way and anticipating when it would be. She probably started making mental lists of things they would need to support the great nation that was about to come forth from her womb.
Fast forward from chapter 12 of their story to chapter 16. A lot has happened. I'm sure none of it they were planning on and none of their plans - the things they had been promised - had come to pass.
"Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children."
After years of waiting, journeying, obeying, hoping, and despairing, Sarai had spent 10 childless years in a new land.
Sarai had probably gone through many emotions. Anger. Fear. Dread. Hope. Tenacity. Tired. Indifferent. Sad. I imagine she was at a place where she just wanted the roller coaster ride she was on to be done.
Hadn't God promised a nation? She knew He had, but surveying the situation this is what she saw: she had no children; she was past the age she could have children; her servant may still be able to have children.
At some point Sarai started to believe that what she could see with her eyes told the whole story. The situations facing her appeared insurmountable. She still believed that they should have a family, but she quit believing that the God who made the promise was the God who would fulfill the promise. Look at what she says, "The Lord has prevented me from bearing children." (Genesis 16:2 ESV) She forgot that the One with the power to prevent life is the One with the power to give life. The picture of her life in it's current circumstance had become so big in her own eyes that she no longer saw the One painting the picture.
On the way to our callings (even just in day to day life) it can be easy to let what we see in the temporal become all we see. Here are some ways to combat that stressor.
Sarai was in a confusing and stressful situation. At 75 years old, her husband was called by God to leave the land he had been in all his life and go to a land that God would reveal and there he would be made into a great nation. (Genesis 12:1-3)
Sounds amazing right? God himself gives an epic quest with promises of blessings and not only for you but for your whole family, which God also promises will be huge - a great nation.
What an amazing, promise-filled time that must have been. I can imagine Sarai packing up to get ready to start their journey. A bit scary? Sure. Nerve-wracking? You bet. But they had a promise and the road they were starting out on was the road to seeing all their dreams come true. Sarai probably started thinking of baby names that night. I'm sure as she traveled she held her hand over her womb protectively wondering if a child was already on the way and anticipating when it would be. She probably started making mental lists of things they would need to support the great nation that was about to come forth from her womb.
Fast forward from chapter 12 of their story to chapter 16. A lot has happened. I'm sure none of it they were planning on and none of their plans - the things they had been promised - had come to pass.
"Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children."
After years of waiting, journeying, obeying, hoping, and despairing, Sarai had spent 10 childless years in a new land.
Sarai had probably gone through many emotions. Anger. Fear. Dread. Hope. Tenacity. Tired. Indifferent. Sad. I imagine she was at a place where she just wanted the roller coaster ride she was on to be done.
Hadn't God promised a nation? She knew He had, but surveying the situation this is what she saw: she had no children; she was past the age she could have children; her servant may still be able to have children.
At some point Sarai started to believe that what she could see with her eyes told the whole story. The situations facing her appeared insurmountable. She still believed that they should have a family, but she quit believing that the God who made the promise was the God who would fulfill the promise. Look at what she says, "The Lord has prevented me from bearing children." (Genesis 16:2 ESV) She forgot that the One with the power to prevent life is the One with the power to give life. The picture of her life in it's current circumstance had become so big in her own eyes that she no longer saw the One painting the picture.
On the way to our callings (even just in day to day life) it can be easy to let what we see in the temporal become all we see. Here are some ways to combat that stressor.
- Worship.
- Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together! To magnify something does not increase the size of the object - it increases how the object appears in our vision. To magnify the Lord is to make Him to appear bigger in our own eyes, and since He is bigger than anything or anyone this is actually just putting everything into the right perspective. Worship places God as the biggest and best and everything looks smaller and more insignificant in His shadow.
- Keep the testimony.
- Recite what the Lord has done so you become convinced of His working on your behalf and His track record of coming through for you. Revelation says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. That means the retelling of His works actually give power for them to occur again.
- Call for back up.
- Someone needs to know what it is you are going towards and the journey you are on to get there. We all need someone that can tell you when you've stopped seeing the whole picture and that can remind you of purpose in the midst of pain. Imagine what could have happened if instead of listening to Sarai, Abram reminded her of the promise and committed to getting to the promise together.
Let's pray this week that God would show us areas where we think what we see is all there is. Then let's ask God to show us His perspective!
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