Sermon Tone Analysis

*01-GENESIS 17:19* \\ \\ Date: 1~/5~/2001 \\ Keywords: excuses, parents, planning, pride, promises, righteousness, self-effort \\ \\ 1~/5~/2001 \\ 17:19 \\ \\ Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.

I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.

\\ \\ God made a promise to bless Abram and his seed even when the man and his wife were barren.

He renewed the promise after Abram tried to make it happen without God’s help.

He renewed it again when it seemed utterly hopeless.

And Abram believed God.

\\ God doesn’t care if we have no power or if we try to do it ourselves.

Our futile efforts do not hinder Him from making good His promises, doing His perfect will.

His way and His timing cannot be changed by our foolish “interventions” even though we somehow think that when we mess up, we have thwarted God.

\\ That is pride.

How can mere mortals change the plans of the Almighty?

\\ I’ve been a proud person.

I’ve been barren as far as teaching my children to follow God, and have made mis­take after mistake.

I sob and weep thinking my efforts or lack of effort has completely ruined things.

How silly.

God is able to do what He wants to do regardless of what I have done or not done.

He did it in Abraham’s life and He can do it in mine.

\\ This is not an excuse for disobedience.

A parent cannot read this or think that they can not bother.

Rather, it is for me, ridden with guilt over a past I cannot change.

I see in the life of Abraham that God is not concerned that the man tried to take matters into his own hands or that the two of them are hopelessly unable to do it.

He is not concerned that they are barren until their old age or that they laugh when He insists they will have what He pro­mised.

He knows what He can do and He does it.

\\ Abraham believed God.

I’ve taken that too generally.

What did he believe?

It was God’s promise regarding the son that he longed for, the son that Abraham could not produce himself.

When God made the promise, Abraham believed it and when he did, his faith was counted as his righteousness.

\\ Trusting God is my righteousness-not the producing of godly children.

It is God who does that.

I am barren and my efforts only make things worse.

I need to be utterly helpless and let Him do it, not give up or think that too much time has passed or that it is impossible.

\\ As for the righteousness part, something tells me that my pride (I messed up the plan of God? Really) and lack of faith (God cannot fix it) in this has hindered my life in a great way.

Instead of knowing the righteousness of Christ in this area of my life, I’ve been governed by my doubt, but also by my pride.

\\ Lord, this is the most incredible light.

It shines so brightly that it hurts.

Grant me the grace to live and walk in the truth that You have revealed this morning.

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