Genesis 17:18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
Live by Faith
Can you imagine how stressful it would be to have God’s job, to be in control of the weather, to know the future, to handle all the people of the world all the time? The truth is that God is never stressed, hurried, or worried, but that is because He is God. It is stressful to try to do God’s job if you are not God. Many times we try to do God’s will our way instead of doing God’s will God’s way.
In Genesis 17:18 Abram says to God, “O that Ishmael might live before thee!” He was saying, “Look, You told me I’m going to be the father of a great nation, but all I have is the son I had by Hagar. So, this is good enough, isn’t it, Lord?” He was trying to do God’s job.
You don’t have to have everything figured out in order to do what you should do today. Faith in God simplifies everything. God has the big picture all taken care of so I don’t need to. I’m not suggesting we should not look ahead or take in as much as we can to make wise decisions. What I am saying is that at this point in Abram’s life, Abram had no idea how God was going to accomplish His will, and he was fretting and trying to do God’s job for Him. It was a big enough job just being himself let alone being God. It is stressful to try to do God’s job for Him. Live by faith.
So many times we try to do things that God alone can do. We need to be reconciled to the fact that we don’t know everything . We don’t need to know everything because God does. I am not God, and I do not need to do God’s job for Him. Now, should I live in surrender to God? Yes. Should I live in such a way that I am a consultant to God, informing Him of how He should do His own will and run His universe? Emphatically, no. Can you imagine trying to please everyone in your world all at the same time? It’s impossible. Life becomes simple when my sole focus is what God wants me to do and how He wants me to do it.
There is a peace and contentment that comes from being surrendered to God’s leading one step at a time. For a God Who is big enough to know the beginning from the end is wise enough to know how to get me there in His own good time.