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August 8, 2004
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Pastor Brian Shimer
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"The Turning Point"
Genesis 15
- The man sat in our living room and convinced us. He was a fast talking salesman. This happened 15 years ago. We were younger, more inexperienced, more foolish and more easily swayed by the spirit of fear. It came into the house with the man, we did not discern it. It worked in our minds to the point that we knew our only hope was to sign on the dotted line and purchase this thing we could not afford.
It was foolish. And our motive was fear.
How often does fear motivate you?
There are fears of acceptance… as we don't speak up in a group of friends who all disagree with our political viewpoint…
Or fears for our job, as our boss tells us to lie to get a sale…
Or fears of rejection, as the young man in love tells his girlfriend he thinks her parents are great in order to win her favor…
Or fears of danger, of evil, of darkness, of being found out, of a million things…
Even advertisers know the human heart is fear motivated so write their material to appeal to our desires for protection for salvation for remedy - for better relationships, a better body, a better life.
In Scripture we find God not afraid of human fears, but willing to help us face and conquer them. This is what God has worked on in Abram over the decade he has walked with him by the time we meet up with him in chapter 15.
In Genesis 14, Abram courageously rescued Lot from King Chedorlaomer. Abram refused any plunder from the King of Sodom so that that king cannot say, "I made Abram rich." In this Abram demonstrated his trust in God's provision, but even with this, there are still fears in his heart. Indeed he has reason to fear a counterattack from King Chedorlaomer. But God comes to Abram and speaks to him in chapter 15 something that is a turning point in his life, saying:
- "FEAR NOT"
Where in your life do you need to hear God say: "fear not!"?
This is the first time in Scripture where God has said this great phrase repeated often throughout the Bible. Angels speak it to terrified humanity. Jesus speaks it to the disciples in the boat afraid of the storm, to the disciples hiding behind closed doors in the upper room for fear of the Jews, to the crowds telling them to fear not for they are of more value than many sparrows. Do you need to hear God say "fear not" to you?
To Abram God said, "Don't fear for your life," by saying: "I am your shield"
And said of Abram's future: "I am your exceedingly great reward."
God promises a reward greater than riches, Himself! Certainly God is enough! The one who fills heaven and earth certainly can fill the lonely soul! It is as if God were saying what was observed by English preacher FB Meyer years ago:
"To have God is to have all, though bereft of everything.
To be destitute of God is to be bereft of everything, though having all" (FB Meyer, The Life of Abraham, Emerald Books, c. 96 by Lance Wubbels, p. 76, ubp).
God as a shield and sure reward is a promise that conquers any fear.
In the first 11 chapters of Genesis, many of the main characters struggled with God because of fears - mostly the fear of not being enough…
Eve feared she was not "enough" like God, so took the fruit
Cain feared he was not enough like Abel, so killed him…
The people of Babel feared their name was not enough without making a tower to heaven, but their plans ended in confusion…
You can trace through these ancestors' lives their fearful attempts to achieve their own significance and to promote themselves. In God's walk with Abram we see God challenging Abram to die to his fears, to bring them into the open, to let God be the shield and reward He intends to be even in Abram's thought life.
- Since chapter 12, God has spoken to Abram three times. Each time God challenged him with an act of obedience that required that the do something - Go, Walk, Receive. But in this challenge, God wants an interior obedience.
Notice, God initiates this conversation. He does not wait for Abram to need to talk, but speaks to him.
And for the first time in their ten year history, Abram responds to God.
God's "fear not" brings to light the disappointment hidden in his heart -- he let's God know his choice of a reward.
(2) "O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" (3) And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."
Aren't we like Abram? Don't we often interpret God's delays as denials? Here Abram has already decided that his servant will be his heir. The delay has caused Abram to make the decision about an heir for God. Have you ever jumped to the wrong conclusion because God was delaying to answer?
Waiting can be so difficult for us. Indeed that fact that we don't want to wait, is a very foundational fault in our culture. Amanda Hayden, employed by US Bank, told me the statistics that most people spend $1.24 for every dollar earned. Most people then are in debt. We don't like to wait… in line, on the phone, for a newer car, for the newest Xbox gadgetry, for the computer to function, for the upgrade. A few seconds seems too long these days.
And waiting on God? That is even worse. For there is no one standing there telling you: "it will be just a few more minutes…"
Look at some of the delays referred to in Scripture:
Ten years Abram has walked thus far without the fulfillment of the clear promise of God… (and it will become 25 years!)
For some 17 years David ran from murderous Saul… pleading for God's deliverance…
For 40 years Moses waited in the desert before God came to him… He thought he was a loser.
For 4 days too long Mary and Martha waited for Jesus to come and knew if he had been there their brother would not have died…
Yes, God is on a different time table that we are. After 10 years he affirms his promise that a son will come, and he takes Abram outside, showing him the heavens, saying:
Verse 5: "Look up at the heavens and count the stars - if indeed you can count them…"
Only God knows the stars by name and by number. Only God can count them.
That was God's point. Abram - stop judging by your human abilities. Get a grip on how BIG God is. See all those stars, God promises: so shall your offspring be.
Sometimes on Saturday nights I am heading back down to the church to pray, work on the message, or just be in the presence of the Lord for a moment. And I love the night skies at that hour. I look and see the vast array of stars and planets and am always inspired. Especially on a clear night in the middle of winter, I am astounded. I sometimes think of just how BIG God must be to have put all that in place, just how vast God's knowledge is to know them all by name, and how huge God's heart is to keep track of the details even in my life and in yours.
Abram was astounded too. He heard that impossibly huge promise and rather than fear or doubt he trusted. Scripture says: He believed God.
Here is the first time someone "believed" God in the bible. And God credited it to Abram as righteousness. God saw this faith as evidence of a heart for God.
He believed what God said, not because he could prove it, not because he had done anything to earn it, but simply because God said it. Abram was the first one with the bumper sticker on his camel saying: "God said it; I believe it; that settles it."
"He was fully persuaded that, what God had promised, God was able also to perform" (Romans 4:21). He was looking at the promise and the promise maker - so that "he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God" (Romans 4:20).
Are your sights likewise fixed on the Promise Maker and on God's promises? Or are you staring at the fears, the impossibilities, the current situations?
Believing God is the remedy to all the self-focused efforts of the folk fearing they are not enough in the first 11 chapters of Genesis. Believing God is what is needed for us too.
To believe God is to place our whole weight upon God; to pour out our hearts to him. To believe God then is not a once a week chat, but a daily interaction. This is why Scripture uses the human interpersonal analogy of marriage to picture the relationship between us and God.
Salvation is a life - a life of relationship to God, not a single moment's decision.
Habakkuk says it this way: "The person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive" (2:2).
This week I received a phone call from a fast talking salesman. He knew his product and knew my needs, but he did not know my God. As he spoke I could not get a clear answer from God, and told the salesman, I needed to pray first. He laughed at me, but called back and I told him I had received a clear No from God. Rather than fear, I chose faith, trust, belief in the God who says He is my shield, He will supply all my needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus, He is my very great reward.
Have you turned from fear to faith, believing God with Abram?
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