Compromise of Abraham

Genesis 16. Turn on the news any time, any year, any decade, and conflict in the Middle East will be in the headlines. Whether it's Israel fighting Hamas or Hezbollah, or Palestinians, it's Israel fighting somebody. And as seen in this last confrontation in Gaza, the terrorist organizations always provoke the fight. Why is this? Well, it all goes back to Genesis 16 and Abram's lapse into unbelief. When Abram was 85 years old, his wife Sarai basically said, "Look, I'm barren. We're never going to have children at this rate. We're not getting any younger. So take my maid Hagar and go in and have children by her." Abram did, and Hagar became pregant and gave birth to Ishmael.

This one compromise by Abram has led to conflict between Jews and Arabs for several millennia. Later Abram, [then he'll be Abraham] and Sarah will have a son Isaac. Isaac becomes the father of Israel while Ishmael becomes the father of the Arabs. And these two half-brother nations have been fighting ever since. Add more fuel to the fire, Muhammad came from the line of Ishmael, and it was Muhammad who founded the world religion of Islam. All of this because of one compromise; one laspe into unbelief. One attempt to "help God out".

The proverbial story of the bar burning down comes to mind. A church was praying for a local bar to close its doors. It seemed that their prayers were never going to be answered. Then one morning, they woke up to the news that the bar had burned to the ground. Later two ladies of the church were chatting over the news, and one lady said she wondered why God took so long. The other lady (now arsonist) said, "Well, honey, sometimes you've got to put feet to your prayers."

While it's true that prayer combined with inaction is presumption upon God. Prayer with wrong action is sin against God. Be careful in trying to help God out. If your actions violate God's Word or contradict Scripture in any way, then it's wrong. And, as we learn from today's chapter, any compromise has great and grave consequences. How about let's do this: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on you own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6. The Message renders this passage this way: "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything own your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track." Life is far too complex to figure it out by ourselves. Let's simply trust God and leave the rest up to Him! God bless.