Life is Messy

A series on the story of redemption – Part II
The story of Isaac
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 25:19-34; 27:1-40 

[Everybody has a story. Even God has one. His is a story about love and redemption and faithfulness. In this series we are going to take a closer look at God’s story through the lives of the people that He touched. How their story became His story of redemption. And how your story is also a part of it.]

  

Life can be messy sometimes. Things happen. Life happens. People happen. That’s the real problem… people! If it wasn’t for people, life would be so much better; much less messy. But people are here to stay with the result being that life is messy.

 

Isaac started off so promising. He was a child of the Lord’s promise. The fulfillment of the covenant between the Lord and Abraham. He was the hope and dream for Sarah. Isaac was the golden child. Even when it came to finding a wife for him, Abraham went to great lengths to make sure that she believed in the same God.

 

But then, life got messy. Rebekah was unable to have children, so Isaac pleaded with the Lord to give her a child. His prayer was answered when she became pregnant with twins. But the two children struggled within her womb, so she asked the Lord why? His answer was unsettling.

 

²³ And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”    Genesis 25    NLT

 

The first sign of a problem happened when Esau came home from the wilderness. At the time, Jacob was preparing some stew. Famished and exhausted, Esau demanded that Jacob give him some.

 

Seeing a great opportunity, Jacob shrewdly negotiated the best deal ever when he asked for, and received, Esau’s birthright as the first-born son. This means that Jacob would receive a double portion of the inheritance, plus the position and authority of Abraham. All of this for a bowl of stew.

 

Esau was Isaac’s favorite and Jacob was Rebekah’s. These dynamics came bubbling to the surface when Isaac was old and ready to give Esau his blessing. Overhearing this, Rebekah put a plan into action so that Jacob could steal the blessing. The plan worked to perfection. Assuming that it was Esau, Isaac gave Jacob this blessing.

 

²⁹ May nations serve you
    and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
    and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
    and those who bless you be blessed.”              Genesis 27    NIV

 

Needless to say, this led to bad blood between Esau and Jacob. Even to the point that Esau planned to kill Jacob once Isaac died. Learning of Esau’s plans, Rebekah once again manipulated the situation to send Jacob away with the birthright and the promise of the Lord’s covenant.

 

Life was messy for Isaac, even though he had a sincere faith in the Lord. There were times when the Lord spoke to him, affirming the covenant of his father Abraham. Isaac embraced this covenant and passed it along to Jacob.

 

This is a very messy chapter in God’s plan of redemption. You’d think he could have found some better people to fulfill his plan. But the Lord is sovereign. And in his sovereignty, he used ordinary sinful people to carry his message of redemption through the generations.

 

Life is messy, and the Lord still uses messy people to continue his plan of redemption.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Whatever it Takes

A series on the story of redemption – Part II
The story of Abraham’s servant
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 24:1-27 

[Everybody has a story. Even God has one. His is a story about love and redemption and faithfulness. In this series we are going to take a closer look at God’s story through the lives of the people that He touched. How their story became His story of redemption. And how your story is also a part of it.]

  

During spring break of my sophomore year in college, my girlfriend unceremoniously dumped me for another guy. After three years of dating, we had been very serious and planned to get married. But it wasn’t meant to be.

 

Before returning to school, I decided to take a few days off, even though it meant that I had to hitch hike the 445 miles back to school. If you were driving, that would be at least an eight hour drive. Also, it was still winter time in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with plenty of snow on the ground. But, I had to get back to school.

 

When something is really important, you’re willing to do whatever it takes. Such was the case for Abraham as he considered making arrangements for a wife for his son Isaac.

 

The Lord had made a covenant with Abraham that included his descendants, so it was critical that both Isaac and his wife believed in the same God. There would be no Canaanite wife for Isaac.

 

However, a trip to Abraham’s native land would mean traveling almost 500 miles by camel. Because Abraham was a very old man, he sent his most trusted servant to find a wife for Isaac. The servant was up to the task and swore an oath to do it.

 

On the evening that he arrived, he went to the well outside of town where all the young women would soon be coming to draw water. He had a plan for how he would determine which one the Lord had chosen for Isaac, and asked the Lord for help.

 

¹² “O Lord, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. ¹⁴ This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’—let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife. This is how I will know that you have shown unfailing love to my master.”         NLT

 

Even before he had finished praying, Rebekah approached the well. The servant then asked her for water which she willingly gave to him. She then offered to draw water for his ten camels. Seeing that the Lord had given him success in his mission, he prayed again.

 

²⁶ The man bowed low and worshiped the Lord. ²⁷ “Praise the Lord, the God of my master, Abraham,” he said. “The Lord has shown unfailing love and faithfulness to my master, for he has led me straight to my master’s relatives.”        NLT

 

The servant believed in the Living God who was personal, not some celestial being that didn’t care. He believed that the Lord had chosen someone for Isaac and that He would bring her to him. He believed that the Lord was faithful and loving.

 

Even though the servant wasn’t mentioned by name, because of his faith, he was willing to do whatever it took. Because of his faith, he played a critical role in God’s plan of redemption. Because of his faith, the Lord’s covenant was continued.

 

He was a common man doing uncommon acts of faith. Anyone can do that right? Whatever it takes!

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 

Who’s Holding Your Football?

A series on the story of redemption – Part II
The story of Abraham – #2
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 22 

[Everybody has a story. Even God has one. His is a story about love and redemption and faithfulness. In this series we are going to take a closer look at God’s story through the lives of the people that He touched. How their story became His story of redemption. And how your story is also a part of it.] 

 

There’s a famous Charlie Brown cartoon strip where Lucy promises to hold a football for Charlie Brown while he kicks it. However, every time that he approaches the ball, she pulls it away. The result is that Charlie Brown falls flat on his back.

 

Sometimes life feels just like that. We put our trust in someone and just when we need them the most, they pull the ball away so that we fall flat on our back. It especially hurts when we keep trusting the person and they keep betraying our trust.

 

Abraham may have felt like that. The Lord called him to leave his home and go to a land where he had never been. He had no idea what would happen once he arrived. But he uprooted his wife, family, servants and livestock by faith in the Lord’s promise.

 

¹ The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

² “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.        Genesis 12    NIV

 

However, after they arrived there was a famine in the land. Because of this Abraham moved again, this time to Egypt. There were plenty of fields for his livestock to graze, but there was one problem. Sarah was beautiful and Abraham feared for his life. So, he told her to lie and say that she was his sister.

 

Abraham faced many other trials during his journey to the new land. Not the least of which was when he got impatient with the Lord to fulfill His promise to give him a child. Unwilling to wait any longer, Abraham took Sarah’s Egyptian servant as his wife. Did Abraham feel the football being pulled away again?

 

Twenty-five years after Abraham initially moved to Canaan, Sarah finally became pregnant. Their son was a child of the promise. Sarah was thrilled and named him Isaac, which means “he laughs”. But once again the football was pulled away.

 

² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”                  NIV

 

It took Abraham three days of walking to reach the location where he was to sacrifice his son. Just as he raised the knife, the Lord provided a ram to take the place of Isaac.

 

¹³ Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So, he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. ¹⁴ Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”         NLT

 

Finally, the football wasn’t pulled away. The Lord was faithful and provided a substitution for the sacrifice. In the same way, he has provided a substitution of his only son whom he loved as a sacrifice to take our place.

 

⁹ God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. ¹⁰ This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.           1 John 4                  NLT

 

Who’s holding your football – Lucy or Yahweh-Yireh?

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Too Good to be True

A series on the story of redemption – Part II
The story of Abraham
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 12:1-9 

[Everybody has a story. Even God has one. His is a story about love and redemption and faithfulness. In this series we are going to take a closer look at God’s story through the lives of the people that He touched. How their story became His story of redemption. And how your story is also a part of it.]

  

There have been several times when my wife and I have been suckered by a sales pitch for a travel program that sounded too good to be true. Each time, after several hours of high-pressure sales, we would leave exhausted from the experience and promising to never do it again.

 

As a young man, my Dad told me that if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Our experience confirms that my Dad knew what he was talking about. However, there is a story where it’s not true. Consider Abraham.

 

¹ The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. ² I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. ³ I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”         NLT

 

Later the Lord reaffirmed his promise when he told Abraham to look into the sky. 

“Your descendants will be as many as the stars above… The only problem is that your wife can’t get pregnant. And look here. This is the land that I’m giving your descendants... The only problem is that the land is already inhabited.”

 

Problems or opportunities? Either way it sounds too good to be true!

 

But Abraham followed the Lord’s call to a land he had never seen. Even though it seemed impossible, he believed the Lord’s promise of descendants. For sure there were times of doubt; times when he and Sarah would try to take things into their own hands. But for the most part, Abraham trusted the Lord.

 

⁶ And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.        NLT          Genesis 15

 

Although Abraham didn’t know all the details, the Lord had a plan. It was a plan to provide a way for His creation to return to a relationship with Him. It was an impossible plan of redemption that would span generations over thousands of years.

 

And the Lord’s plan comes with a cost. The cost was for the Lord to sacrifice His one and only son who He loved. Only then is it possible for us to personally know our Heavenly Father, who loves us and longs to be in relationship with us.

 

⁹ God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. ¹⁰ This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.           NLT   1 John 4

 

The Lord’s promise to Abraham sounded too good to be true. Even His plan of redemption sounds so impossible that it can’t be true. But it is. Abraham gave us the blueprint for righteousness… faith. Jesus is the person to put our faith in.

 

²⁹ And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.             NLT           Galatians 3                                                       

 Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com