Genesis 15:1-7:
After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:Do not be afraid, Abram.I am your shield; your reward will be very great.2But Abram said, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? ” 3Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”4Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” 6Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. 7He also said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
I’m sharing this passage to think through Abraham’s doubts and hesitation in regard’s to God’s promise. As I read I thought of an evening my wife and I shared with some friends last Saturday evening. Our friends invited us over to cook for us and share some time together, and before long, both of our marriage stories began to share similar traits and history.
Many here, have become familiar with my story, yet these friends, relatively new to Heather and I; had not heard any of it, nor us of them. An hour turned into 2 and then on, and the night ended well after midnight as both marriage stories were shared on the patio along with tears, laughter, and smiles.
So often I have thought to myself, “I’m not going to tell that part” or “they don’t need to know ALL the details” yet this time, none of that came across my mind. This is likely because Heather and I have become so used to sharing that when we do now… the fears and shame are WELL BEYOND our current mindset’s and heart feelings… Those negative parts of our story have proven to bring us closer to God and closer to each other and when shared with new people, hopefully it brings God the glory shown to them as well.
Have you ever heard the phrase, ” what they don’t know won’t hurt them”?
This is a common statement but I wonder how often the following is true:
WHAT THEY DON’T KNOW WON’T HELP THEM!
Someone may be needing to hear your heart this morning and someone may need to hear your story of reconciliation or recovery or heart change! If you’re not sharing your story with everyone a few things may be present:
- PRIDE?
- Selfishness?
- Shame?
All three of these items are really pointing back to number one, PRIDE, yet we have to let this go…. In fact, NONE of our story (Heather’s and I) had any real lasting change, until we both LAID DOWN our egos and let go of the pride entrapment that tangled our hearts. None of our growth happened, none of our love came back, none of our physical surroundings changed at all until we came clean with each other, BELIEVED GOD could do what He SAYS HE CAN DO, and gave up on our prideful hearts.
Do you think Abraham had some doubts and fears for his family? As he states in the passage he was well aware of his age and the lack of growth in his life when God told him to get ready for a MASSIVE change in their legacy line?
I understand there are times and feelings that get in the way of action… I understand there are hurts and hangups that slow us down from being open and eager to let people get to know us ….
What they dont’ know won’t help them man! Get your ego out of the way and let God do something wonderful for you. The first time you share you may feel awkward and it may come out all wrong to you, BUT GOD can STILL USE THAT and it gets easier every time thereafter! Tell them your story and you’ll be surprised they’ll likely want to tell you theirs! For us, we gained a great new friendship with great people right down the corner from us! Why did we wait so long?!
Barnabas Man 