9.20.23
Hey, Calvary Fremont –
God made Abraham a promise that he would have a son. Time passed. Abraham believed. But then the possibility passed away (Abraham became too old to father a child). Yet Abraham still believed, for he believed that God is able to do the impossible. Great is he who believes with the passing of time. Greater is he who believes with the passing away of possibility. Great is he who wrestles with time and wins. Greater is he who wrestles with impossibility and wins.
So writes Soren Kierkegaard in his book “FEAR AND TREMBLING” which is a commentary on the faith of Abraham.
Like Abraham, you have believed God for things that were possible, and with the passing of time you endured in your faith. But then came the moment when the things you were believing for became an impossibility – and your faith died. For some people, the passing of time kills their faith. Others endure the passing of time, but the passing away of possibility buries their faith.
Not only does God want you to wrestle with time, He also wants you to wrestle with impossibility. But there is an immovable wall of reality that I have smacked into going more than 60 mph more than once or twice (or thrice). I have believed God for so many things that He never promised. I have prayed that God would fulfill my unfiltered desires. If God had granted all my prayer requests, I would be the pastor of the largest, most dynamic church in America. I would be invited to conferences all over the world to preach and teach. Pastors would be standing in line for appointments to seek the counsel of the pastor of the largest church in America. As you can see, I have believed God for things He has never promised.
I am not the pastor of the largest church in America (though I do pastor the best church!). I do not pastor the largest church in America, but those I do pastor I do so with a broken and contrite heart. “A BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART. O GOD, YOU WILL NOT DESPISE.” God thought it more valuable to break my fleshly ambition than to fulfill my unfiltered desires. Father knows best and God is the King!
This has to be one of the greatest challenges in prayer – to ask according to the will of God. You can really only pray in faith when you pray with wisdom. I am intimately acquainted with my will, but not so much the will of God. I often confuse my will with the will of God. And if I pray my will and not His will, the answer is always NO. If your 12-year-old asks for a car, what’s the answer? If your 16-year-old asks to drop out of school, what’s your answer? They think they’re mature enough to drive. They think they can successfully navigate life as a high school dropout. I thought I should be the pastor of the largest and most dynamic church in America – for the glory of God, of course! I had been taught to ask big things from a big God. The problem wasn’t with the request, per se, it was with the motive and maturity giving rise to the request in the first place. I was after the big things, but God was after the deep things.
Abraham believed God through time and impossibility for that which God had promised. He didn’t come up with the idea of having a son – that was God’s idea. That’s where prayer begins – what are God’s ideas for me? What is His will for me? We know that trials, troubles, and temptations test and refine the soul – and so does prayer. As we seek to discern and know and pray the will of God, our unfiltered desires are exposed to the light of day, and we can see how petty and ambitious and immature we really are. It is more valuable to God to break your fleshly ambition than it is to fulfill your unfiltered desires. You are after the big things and God is after the deep things. As you pray the will of God, you can believe with the passing of time and even endure passing away of possibility. God brought forth the child of promise from the sterility of Abraham and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. More than believing God for big things, let’s believe God for God things.
Be blessed and stay healthy and follow Jesus – Pastor Tim
Leave a Reply