A Momentary Lapse of Reason (Genesis 15-16)

Genesis 15-16

There aren't too many sure things in life.

However, even the things that we think are sure things might not always be.  Take a look at the video below.

How many did you get?  I am ashamed to admit that I actually missed one of these.  (However, I never missed a spelled out one.)

We look at the people who have sure things and ask ourselves, "How could they have been so stupid?"  "How could they not see this?"  "What were they thinking?"

Now when it comes to a game show, outside of money and national embarrassment, there isn't much lost.

But then we look at Abraham's situation and I am totally baffled by the "Father of Faith". 

He is told directly by God that he will have a son.  He takes him outside and shows him all the stars in the heavens and says this is how numerous his offspring will be.  He has a conversation with the One who created the heavens and the earth.  And he is given every assurance that it will come to pass.  When Abraham hears it, he believes God.  He wasn't told to do anything.  Just be patient and trust God.

But Abraham does what many of us want to do when we don't see the results we want in our timing, we try to complete God's plan for Him.  I mean, he was just trying to help out, right?  So he and Sarai (also called Sarah) concoct this plan to help God.  Even though Abraham and Sarah are already married, they look to their culture which had a habit of giving maidservants as additional wives to solve this delimma.

Preplanned adultery with consenting partners.  Everyone's doing it.  What could go possibly go wrong?

Everything.

Jealousy.  Hatred.  Strife.  Not a very good tradeoff from what God promised.

Not much has changed since Abraham's time though.  Although we are told to trust in Christ and follow Him, we, in our arrogance and impatience, think that we can improve on God's plan too.  Our culture's sexual revolution tries to woo us into believing if we just do things their way our lives will work out as happily as the sitcoms we see on TV or movies that we watch in the theaters.

I've seen the real life results of the broken hearts caused by premarital sex, consentual adultery and betrayal from an unfaithful partner.  It looks much more like the portrayal we see from Abraham's life than the wishful "happily ever after" Hollywood continually produces on the screen.  Yet, we keep consuming the manufactured man-made solution to God's problem, and somehow expect that our results will be different than his.

Abraham suffered from a momentary lapse of reason.  He believed God but then forgot that God didn't need his help or his improvements to His plan.  His plan has never been broken.  We are.  That's why He sent Christ to fix us. 

The next time you are tempted to believe the culture's improvements to God's plan, remind yourself that God is not the one that is broken.  It just might save you from a lifetime full of regret from a momentary lapse of reason.