Can You Spot the Error?
(and I don't mean grammatically)
"Still more years went by, and no child. Finally, Sarah became pregnant. What changed?"
"I'm convinced that the key to the promise's coming to pass was that Sarah had to conceive it in her heart before she was able to conceive that baby in her physical body. She had to believe she could become pregnant before she actually became with child. It was nearly twenty years from the time God spoke the promise to Abraham and Sarah until the time Isaac was born. And I believe the main reason he wasn't born sooner, one of the major delays in the fulfillment of the promise for year after year, was simply the fact that Sarah couldn't see it through her eyes of faith."
This really bothered me when I read it this morning. Wonder if the same thing strikes anyone else?
posted by Lady Constance at 8:05:00 AM
4 Comments:
Ergo if God's promise is not being fulfilled in your life, it's because of your lack of faith.
I firmly believe that your faith is not always an essential ingredient for God to move. Case in point: Peter was tossed in jail and sentenced to death. Many Christians organized a prayer meeting to pray for his deliverance. God sends an angel and delivers him, so Peter goes to where the prayer meeting is happening and asks to be let in. Those praying didn't think he was really there! That's a lack of faith, and God moved in spite of it.
What God says will come to pass. Seeing through the "eyes of faith" certainly doesn't hurt, but God is the sovereign one, not us.
That is definitely one facet of my discomfort regarding this statement. BUT there is something else.
Any takers?
Sarai still didn't believe when God spoke to Abraham and told him he'd have a son in a year. Remember? She laughed. So I don't see where her faith EVER changed until she actually became pregnant.
But perhaps what you're looking for is that the blame is all placed on Sarai and Abraham is hardly mentioned. Why was the
hold-up Sarai's faith and not Abraham's? Or at least an equal share?
Mm...good point but still not what I was after. The author of the statement says he is convinced that...and he believes that...
Being convinced and believing is all well and good. Where's the proper research to back up the claim? Where is the exegesis? No hermeneutics? There is nothing in Scripture to substantiate that Sarai didn't become pregnant because she didn't have faith.
God is Sovereign and all things are done in His timing. The only Scripture I see in this case was about timing. It was not about unbelief. The "three visitors" basically said, 'You're laughing? Well, wait and see what happens.' That's all.
The author of the quoted statement is a well known teacher/pastor. He is responsible for what he presents, as are we all. In my opinion, he needs more than "I am convinced." He needs, "I am convinced because..."
Splitting hairs? Maybe. But it is a big hair.
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