Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“But Abram said, ‘O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, September 15, 2024
by Pr. Sara Gorman, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: God’s promises are hard to fathom.
It doesn’t seem as if it could be remotely possible for God to pull off some of the things God does. But that is what makes God…well…God. God’s promise seems way too good to be true, especially since Abram knew his lineage would end if there wasn’t a child to carry on the family name.
But picture this—you’re going about your day, getting your groceries, and returning the Amazon order that wasn’t what you were hoping it would be. The grocery bill ends up being much less than you anticipated given your pantry was out of all the staple items. and the Amazon return not only goes well, but ends with you getting a coupon so that sweater you’ve been eyeing for months, is now more than affordable. It doesn’t seem possible that two great “adult” things like this could happen in the same day, let alone to the same person. But they do.
This is likely how Abram felt as those promises were being fulfilled. No way could it be possible to have that many descendants especially since there wasn’t even one in his old age. No way would God really make that happen. After all, Sarai was barren, and couldn’t have children. What could God do about that?
So, he and Sarai take things into their own hands, trying to make the descendants happen. Abram sleeps with their slaves, who become pregnant, which must be what God was referring to when God said there would be descendants. After all there is no other way. But just a few chapters later Sarai, now Sarah becomes pregnant with Isaac, who will be the first in their many biological descendants.
Who would have guessed that a woman could bear a child at ninety years old, and a man, at the age of one hundred, have enough energy to be a new parent? God did. Because God wrote their story and writes our story too, even when it doesn’t seem possible.
