Tests of Faith - Pt 6

And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. (Genesis 15:7-15 ESV). The passage we are looking at today deals with the matter of Abram's faith as he is called to stand firm in waiting for the fulfillment. Here, we see him growing in maturity of faith. This passage details God's request for Abram to prepare a sacrifice. This whole event describes how men in ancient times made a covenant with one another. They would cut animals in half and arrange the pieces several feet apart and walk between the pieces together. It symbolized the sacredness of a man's word. It said, "May I be like one of these animals if I break my part of the covenant." For Abram, it took a lot of costly, hard, bloody work to prepare things like the Lord wanted them to be. That’s often true for us as well. The tests of our faith often come in costly, hard times. But there is another element here. Abraham exercised patience. I get the impression that this activity took Abram most of the day. He is in a holding pattern. He has the sacrifice ready, he is guarding it and the Lord doesn't show up until after darkness has fallen. It was a time that required patience on the part of Abraham. Rarely does Gods’ schedule and our schedule keep the same timetable. We schedule our efforts and plan our programs, marketing our target audience carefully, and then wonder why God didn’t show up! He will show up, but only when He is ready! Therefore, if the Lord is working in your life, be patient and wait on His timing. Don't rush in as we have a tendency to do, just wait patiently on Him and He will bring it to pass. I love that part of our text today that says simply, As the sun was going down… Abraham waited and waited; yet, God did not come. Evidently he wasn’t that worried. He fell into a deep sleep. He didn’t walk away in disappointment. He wasn’t anxious in the least, he simply laid down and went to sleep to wait on the Lord. Certainly this is the example Jesus gave the disciples in the midst of a great storm on the Sea of Galilee. While the winds roared and waves crashed against the boat, Jesus was asleep in the stern. The disciples awakened him and said, “Save us Lord!” He challenged them concerning the lack of faith. I need to be reminded that God is not going to let me drown. He has already secured my future, even when it looks like all is lost. His promise is to deliver me safe to my eternal destination of life! He made that covenant in the blood of His only begotten Son!