Do I Trust the Bigger Plans?
The Lord said to Abram
after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north
and south, to the east and west..... Go, walk through the length and
breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” So Abram went to live
near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents.
There he built an altar to the Lord. Genesis 13:14-18 (NIV)
God
cares for us intimately, but is never thinking of only us. His plans are always
bigger than us, and that is for our ultimate good.
Several
years ago, Carl Reiner (American actor, director, producer, and writer of
comedy) and Mel Brooks did a comedy skit called the "2013 Year Old
Man". In the skit, Reiner interviews Brooks, who is the old gentleman. At
one point, Reiner asks the old man, "Did you always believe in the
Lord?" Brooks replied: "No. We had a guy in our village named Phil,
and for a time we worshiped him." Reiner: You worshiped a guy named Phil?
Why? Brooks: Because he was big, and mean, and he could break you in two with
his bare hands! Reiner: Did you have prayers? Brooks: Yes, would you like to
hear one? O Phil, please don't be mean, and hurt us, or break us in two with
your bare hands. Reiner: So when did you stop worshiping the Lord? Brooks:
Well, one day a big thunderstorm came up, and a lightning bolt hit Phil. We
gathered around and saw that he was dead. Then we said to one another,
"There's somthin' bigger than Phil!"
The
Lord reiterates His promises to Abraham, only this time with a greater
magnitude. It’s inspiring to see Abraham get such a powerful and direct promise
from God. But for anyone who knows how the rest of the story goes, it’s also
incredibly frustrating. Abraham had to wait decades until his son Isaac was
born. And of all the land he was promised, he only ends up legally owning a
fraction of one percent of it by his death – for which he was probably overcharged.
Anyone
reading this story with an honest heart has to ask the question, Why is God so
slow, or bad, at keeping His promises? It’s not a subject we like to address,
but it’s one every one of us as Christians will face in our lives…when will God
step in and do something?
If the
story of Abraham reminds us of any truth, it’s that God’s plans are always
incomprehensibly larger than our own. God didn’t make promises to Abraham
because He just wanted to help the guy out. God brought Abraham into an extraordinary
epic, the salvation of mankind.
God’s
promises to the single man of Abraham were meant to bring about much more than
Abraham could ever imagine – descendants that grew into the nation of Israel,
the Israelite who birthed the Son of God, and the Christ who died, and will
return for his bride, the Church.
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