By Allen White
Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and
say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for
the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will
have a son."
Sarah was afraid, so
she lied and said, "I did not laugh."
But he said, "Yes, you did laugh." Genesis
18:13-15
The Lord was actually a guest in Abraham and Sarah’s home
(Genesis 18:1-10). She had prepared a meal for him. But, they did understand
that this was no ordinary guest (Genesis 18:3). The Lord knew that Sarah would
have a child, and He knew that she had laughed.
Maybe she was embarrassed. Maybe she felt that her laughter
betrayed a lack of faith. So, Sarah lied to God, “I did not laugh.” But, God knew
better.
There is nothing that we can reveal to God about ourselves
that God doesn’t already know. God is never going to stop and say, “Oh, Myself,
I can’t believe you did that.” He knows. We can never surprise Him.
God asks a great question in this passage: “Is anything too
hard for the LORD?” Of course, the answer is “no.” The impossible things, the
things we would regard as incredulous or laughable, these things are not too
hard for God.
What seems too hard today? Guess Who can take care of that? It
just might make you laugh.
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God is Far Away and Very Near
Life. Interrupted. Week 6 Day 3
Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and
Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if
what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will
know." Genesis 18:16-21
Why did God have to “go down” to Sodom and Gomorrah? Isn’t
God present everywhere all of the time? It doesn’t seem that God would have to
go in order to know.
God didn’t need to go, but Abraham did not understand that
God was omnipresent (present everywhere all of the time). God revealed Himself
to humans in stages. Theologians call this “progressive revelation.”
In Abraham’s mind, the only way that God or anybody else
would know what was going on in Sodom was to go and see. Rather than blow
Abraham’s mind with a lecture of the Non-Moral Attributes of God (see Bible
Doctrines 1 at BrookwoodU), God spoke to Abraham in a way that Abraham would
understand.
By virtue of when and where we live, we know more about God
than Abraham did. The great thing about God is that He is omnipresent. He is
over everything. But, God is also close and personal. He lives in those who believe.
Isaiah said it best: “For this is what the high and lofty
One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and
holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive
the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah
57:15).
God is big enough to handle everything that we face, and He
is personal enough to care about everything we face. He can handle what you’re
facing today.
To make
a tax deductible donation to Galatians 4:19 Ministries:
To
subscribe or leave a comment on the galatians419 devotional blog:http://galatians419.blogspot.com
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