Meet Abraham, the first of the Hebrew patriarchs. His father named him Abram, which means “exalted father.” But after Abram married a distant relative named Sara, it soon became apparent that the couple could not conceive. Amid this drama, God called Abram — a call that changed his life and all of human history forever; He gave to him a new name — Abraham, “father of many nations.”
Abraham was 75 years old when God invited him to a new beginning: to leave his nation, his people, and his family home to walk by faith and not by sight toward a land that he did not yet know, but which God had promised to give to him. And with profound trust, Abraham uprooted his family, taking his wife, Sarah, and his nephew, Lot, with him into the harsh wilderness surrounding Canaan. God promised to bless Abraham, to make a great nation out of him, and provide a long-awaited child to Abraham and Sarah despite their advanced age. While the promise of a son took 25 years to come to fruition, and the promise of a new land and becoming a great nation were yet to be realized, Abraham trusted God with the future he could not yet see. Through this covenant, God set forth a plan to redeem all of humanity through his descendants, a plan that was ultimately fulfilled in his descendent, Jesus Christ.
The story of Abraham reveals that, even when we are tired of waiting, the result of sidestepping God’s plans results in strife. Instead, God invites us to trust in Him, because God always keeps His promises, and we can trust that God’s timing is perfect.
