Faith Does Not Just Settle

January 17, 1988

Genesis 15:1-6

Introduction: This chapter breaks in right in the middle of things. Abraham has made an excellent start. He has had some very good times, and some not so very good times. But now, in the middle of things, Abraham's faith comes to a crisis. He must either go forward or else he must settle back, perhaps forever.

This is how life really is. This is how real faith works. We hear God's call. We set out to follow. We have real victory. We leave behind old ways. We find that the guilt and bondage of sin are gone. But we also find that we aren't "saints" overnight. There are things that come up which we could never have imagined. We find that we don't arrive in heaven by non-stop express. And the "promise" that challenged us at first hasn't seemed to take the shape that we thought it should. Other people seem to have the answers down pat. But somehow we aren't sure we even know all the questions yet.

When we were first saved we somehow believed that God wanted us to be special to HIM; to fulfill some noble and holy mission or purpose. Somehow we thought God wanted us to be "great." But we realize that there aren't many truly "great" people around. WE certainly don't feel "great."

And so we are tempted to "just settle." We're tempted to say, "Oh well, all right—this isn't exactly how I had envisioned it . . . but I'm far better off than I was before." And it is true we are. And this is how it was for Abraham on "just another desert night."

I. ABRAHAM MEETS GOD ON 'JUST ANOTHER NIGHT'

He is a very wealthy, but also a barren Abraham. God has called and blessed Abraham. Obeying God has been personally profitable to Abraham in many ways. But the one thing God promised him, that he would have a son and heir,—and become the father of many nations, and be a blessing to the whole world-this has definitely not happened.

God's call is (1) to courage; and (2) to Himself: "Don't be afraid, Abraham!"

"Lord, I didn't know I was afraid! Things are going pretty well . . ." Abraham sounds like a person who may not have 'arrived,' but he also talks like a man who is pretty sure he isn't going any further. "My servant, Eliezer of Damascus, he is a good man . . . He can carry on when I die."

But God's word cuts through all this: DON'T JUST SETTLE, ABRAHAM!

God wanted Abraham (1) to have courage to admit that he hadn't arrived yet! [It takes courage to look hard at ourselves, and realize that we still have serious growing to do; that we still have to keep moving to catch up to what God wants for us.]

And most of all, God wanted Abraham to (2) trust HIM; to believe God had NOT forgotten Him—that God still loved him and was special to him, and would do with him as He had said.

II. ABRAHAM WAS LIKE WHAT WE ARE TEMPTED TO BE

We are fascinated by what God can do for us and with us. We are captivated by where God may lead us . . . we are excited by spiritual gifts . . . we are turned on by spiritual growth. And all this is good and right and proper. These are God's good promises to us. But God was challenging Abraham—and He will challenge each of us—to come to the radical purpose of faith—of seeking God for Himself.

We get so excited asking: "What has God DONE for you?" that sometimes we forget to ask: "Who IS God to you?"!!

God was challenging Abraham to center his faith in relationship, and not in experience, or experiences, or blessings, or anything else. There is a not-so-subtle difference in God's word as it comes this time to Abraham:

At the beginning God had said, "I will make, bless . . ." Now God begins by saying, "I AM!" He was saying, "In this matter of faith never settle for anything less than a personal walk with ME!" [Abraham had made a great beginning. He had walked out into the unknown with God.]

But God was saying: Don't let your faith settle for a good beginning! Thank God for the altar! Thank God for altar experiences. Thank God for good starts! But getting saved is not the end—it is just the beginning!

Don't let your faith settle for success! Abraham had had some great successes! His success just about filled all the available landscape. Abraham was a genuine V.I.P. But God was telling Abraham: this isn't all there is! Reputation, even a well-deserved good reputation, isn't what faith seeks! Each success that faith brings is not its own final goal. Success and failure, as other people may measure our lives looking on, may have a lot less to do with faith than most of us would care to believe.

Don't let your faith settle for God's gifts! Abraham's own suggestion to God had to do with his servant. Abraham had a special servant, Eliezer of Damascus. But God wouldn't hear of letting a servant take the place of His promise. And we all have these special servants. Obedient faith finds and develops and employs many valuable servants along the pathway of discovery.

"Gifts of the Spirit" or God-given talents and strengths of character that God blesses and uses become real sources of blessing and satisfaction. Gifts of the mind prod us to inquire; gifts of the personality enable signif­icant achievement; gifts of aesthetics bring the joy of creativity; gifts of physical ability—all these are wonderful servants.

But ever so often we see someone who ends up with a "servant" on center stage of their life. Instead of serving, people worship their own God-given ability. But servants must never become the primary focus of faith. Faith must never settle for success, or experience, or achievement.

III. THE 'TURNING POINT' IS GOD HIMSELF

This is a strange chapter. It doesn't "fit" neatly into our idea of how things ought to be. It isn't where Abraham got "saved" or even where he got "sanctified." It isn't very dramatic. But it is a turning point. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. It is hard to understand the "thing" that brought Abraham to this new level of faith, this faith that would not settle for anything less than God Himself.

It certainly wasn't the FACTS. Sarah was still barren. These people were too old to have children naturally. And that was a fact!

It wasn't some new emotional persuasion or twist. God did ask Abraham to step out under the starry sky. "Your descendants will be like these stars for number!"

It had to be a kindling love for God HIMSELF! Abraham said: "God, I'll believe anything You say! I simply accept Your word on it!" There was a deep commitment of LOYALTY to God, at any cost!

[Illustration: What a beautiful thing is personal loyalty! It is beautiful in friends. It is beautiful in church-members. It is divine in God's children! (Dick Bos??)]

IV. A FAITH THAT 'DOESN'T SETTLE' LEADS TO COVENANT!

From that day on Abraham took God Himself as the object of his highest aspiration. Abraham was righteous before God because he dared to take Him at His word, and not just 'settle' for the good things along the way.

And God wants to COVENANT with us all! With each one of us!

We all start out this walk of faith thinking about what God does! We want His peace and His joy and His gifts! And rightly so, for God wants us to have them all.

But God wants us to take Him at His word and never settle short of seeing His BEST promise fulfilled in each one of us! He has a noble purpose for YOU!

[When we were first saved we somehow believed that God wanted us to be special to HIM; to fulfill some noble and holy mission or purpose. Somehow we thought God wanted us to be "great." But we realize that there aren't many truly "great" people around. WE certainly don't feel "great."]

But God loves you as much as He loved Abraham! I'm not sure what "greatness" consists of, but . . . God wants YOU to become His FRIEND, and He wants YOU to be like HIM, like His SON, Jesus Christ! What we DO is important! What we accomplish in life really matters! But nothing compares with KNOWING GOD, and with SIMPLY WALKING WITH HIM!

So—God won't let us off with a good start—or with any amount of "success"—or even with the dedication of our gifts and our talents to Him. He comes to us—in the middle of things—in the middle of January—and says: "DON'T BE AFRAID! I still want to make YOU great!"

My goal is God Himself, not joy or peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my Lord. 'Tis His to lead me there, not mine but His, At any cost, dear Lord, by any road. One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay. One thing I do, I press toward my Lord; My God, my glory here from day to day, And in the glory there, My great Reward. -Author unknown