Running Out of Daylight

Daily Reading: Genesis 16

Scripture Focus: Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. (Genesis 16.16)

Devotional Thought: Have you ever taken things out of God's hands to hold them in your own hands? If you're like me, you probably have. And, if you're like me, you've probably made a mess of things.

Don't feel bad; Abram - commended for his great faith - was like that, too. After he had "believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15.6) and after he had accepted the promise and the covenant of God, Abram struggled to maintain his faith, to keep believing. Instead of allowing God to work things out, Abram took things into his own hands. At the behest of Sarai, Abram agreed to let Hagar, Sarai's servant, became a surrogate mother for the couple. You can understand their concern - Abram was 86 years old at the time. They were running out of daylight!

But that was not God's plan.

God's plan included the building up of Abram's faith. God wanted Abram - and all of us who would have faith in Abram's God - to know that God "is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us" (Ephesians 3.20). God desires that we know it is his hand that is at work, that we understand that "'It is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord of Hosts" (Zechariah 4.6).

Has God made a promise to you? Are you running out of daylight? Don't give up! God has not forgotten you. Don't stop believing. Let God work things out. When he makes a promise, he provides the means to fulfill it.

Prayer: Lord, help me to hear and believe your promises. And if I should ever waver in my faith, trying to work things out on my own, show me that you have not forgotten me. Amen.

Psalm of the Day: 7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. 12 Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds. (Psalms 18:7-12)