Word of Encouragement (02/01/2022)

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!" God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him...” (Gen. 17:17-19).

Here is one biblical instance in which God says “No!” to prayer. In this incident, Abraham hears the reiteration of God’s promise to give him a son by Sarah and prays, laughing to himself, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” He and Sarah used their own means—a surrogate—and managed to get a son, Ishmael, by Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian maid. That is not what God promised to them, but they are content. They don’t know how God will fulfill His promise as they are getting older. And waiting in hope against hope is emotionally so taxing. They are ready to move on with their lives with Ishmael as their heir.

But God’s response is a decisive and emphatic “No!” God knows that what He has in store for Abraham and Sarah is so much better than what they are willing to live with. And God loves them too much to have them settle for the far, distant second best. How good it is to be reminded of this simple but important truth! It is easy to think that God does not love us when He says no to our desires. But that is a childish way of thinking, isn’t it? A wise leader doesn’t surround himself with “yes-men” and “yes-women.” He knows that he is not perfect: his knowledge is limited, and his perspective can be biased and blind-sighted. He knows that he needs others with different perspectives and greater expertise to advise him. A leader, who surrounds himself only with those who agree with him, is bound to fall.

We all recognize our limitations, right? So, we have no problem, when necessary, seeking expert opinions on different matters—medical, fitness, financial, legal, business, organizational, etc. If so, it is only right that we give deference to our all-knowing, all-wise God, who loves us. When God says no, it is because He sees more than we do, knows better than we do, and loves us more than we love ourselves. Why should it be so difficult for us to surrender ourselves willingly and gratefully to God’s will even when He says no to our wishes? He is shielding us from the dangers and harms that we do not see with our narrow, near-sighted vision. Or He is in the process of giving us something better, as was the case of Abraham and Sarah. We should be willing to give up what we want, and that is not easy to do. But if we can accept that our gracious God has closed the door we wanted, we will be able to see God is opening another door for us.

God was true to His promise to Abraham and Sarah even though they could not see how it could be done. Isaac was born in due time to their great surprise and joy. But, of course, God’s goodness did not stop there, did it? Even Isaac was not God’s ultimate gift to them; even their precious Isaac was only a channel through which God’s greatest Gift to His people would come—our Savior Jesus Christ. Does this mean that everything is downhill from here? Since the greatest Gift has already been given, we can’t expect anything better, can we?

Let’s not forget that Jesus is God, and He is infinite in riches. We should not think that, just because we know the basic truths of the gospel, we know everything there is to know about Jesus. Even though we have been given full salvation, our experience of it is infinitesimally small. The more we grow in our faith, the more of Him we will experience and enjoy. Even then, we must admit, “The streams on earth I’ve tasted more deep I’ll drink above; there to an ocean fullness his mercy doth expand...” (“The Sands of Time are Sinking”). How wonderful and exciting is our prospect! Jesus is the greatest Gift because we will never be able to exhaust His riches! May the Lord enable us to drink more and more from “Christ…, the fountain, the deep sweet well of love!”

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