After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless…”
Genesis 15:1-2a
Have you ever taken a moral stand only to look foolish afterwards? I remember taking a moral stand when coaching baseball when my son was in elementary school. I was only an assistant coach, like all the other dads, but offered my very limited expertise of baseball where I could. This usually meant keeping the boys from climbing the dugout walls during games. Our head coach was very knowledgeable of baseball and knew how to get the best out of each boy. However, the “best” was usually coaxed out of others with spitting, swearing, and red-faced, vein-popping tangents.
During one game, head coach Ron was in an unusually bad mood. As one of our boys was thrown out at first base, Coach Ron began yelling at the umpire for a bad call from the first base coach’s box. Expletive after expletive came out of his mouth and rattled around the dugout before landing on the ears of the umpire. I had finally had enough and walked out to Coach Ron offering him a summary on integrity and how to coach young boys for lasting impact. As you might imagine this was met with many snide remarks. From that day forward, I was known as “Mr. Integrity.”
Abram, a.k.a. Abraham, is given a word from the Lord after refusing a reward for helping the King of Sodom defeat a few local enemies. Abraham refused to accept payment from the foreign King because he wanted it made clear to everyone that all success he found came from the Lord God alone. What a bold move! But we read that “after this,” God came to Abraham in a vision and promised success for his continued witness amongst unbelievers. Yet Abraham, in an even bolder move, calls God to the carpet! He basically says, “I did what I said, now what about you?” God had promised that he would be the father of many nations but Abraham was old and childless. When would this promise come true?
Looking foolish in front of others when we take a stand for God can be really hard to swallow. When we offer ourselves as a public witness to the power and glory of God, we expect to be rewarded for it. The only problem, our timetable does not always match God’s. God follows through with his promise to Abraham. And God follows through with his promises to us but it is not always in our expected timeframe. In our own “after this” moments, we must remember to wait upon the Lord. There is another promise that came to a prophet in the midst of trying times. “Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
Jonathan Sullivan is the Pastor at First Baptist Church, 1201 Western Circle Dr., in Dimmitt, Texas. Small groups meet on Sunday morning at 9:30 and Worship is at 10:30. Check us out at fbcdimmitt.com for more events and times. You belong at FBC.