That Time When God Was Kind To Me: Part 2 - Pastor Andrew Damazio

Hey, this is Andrew Demazio, lead pastor of Rose Church here in Portland, Oregon.

Welcome to our podcast.

Our mission here at Rose is building big people.

Coming like Jesus in community while growing in our faith.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, I pray today's message challenges you and encourages you on your walk with Jesus.

Thank you so much for listening.

Enjoy today's podcast.

We're gonna jump into some text today.

We're gonna read uh a little bit from Genesis 15, 16, 17, and 21.

Uh, we're gonna be talking about this man named Abram, or he becomes Abraham.

Abraham and Sarah.

Uh he's known as the father of faith.

Uh, if you're new to the Bible, there's this chapter in the book of Hebrews called Hebrews chapter 11, and uh many people have tagged that chapter now, the Hall of Faith.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

And it's just a whole chapter of by faith, Abel did this, by faith Noah did this, by faith Abraham, by faith, Sarah, by faith, um, you know, Rahab, by faith, Moses, by faith, by faith, by faith.

It's a whole chapter of uh many people in the Bible that we celebrate a people of faith.

And Abraham, now that we uh call him, is our father of faith.

I think it's really important, because think about the Old Testament.

We are known um as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the generations of God, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Uh, there's some other big characters.

We could have been known as the people of David, we could have been known as the people of Moses.

Oh, there's a lot of other names that could have made it in there, but we're known as the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Why Abraham, not Moses?

Because we are people of faith, not of the law.

He's the father of our faith.

Faith is a massive aspect of our journey with God.

And so today I want to zoom in on the father of faith and just read a few different stories of him.

Uh, we'll we'll share some things throughout the chapters, and then zoom in on chapter 16 and then chapter 21.

So if you have your Bible, you can go open to Genesis 15.

It'll be on the screen here.

We're gonna draw and we're gonna uh uh play with some things, but we're gonna see some words and some phrases that are going on.

Genesis chapter 15.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 15.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

A little bit of context.

Genesis 12 is the beginning of Abraham's story.

Genesis 1 through 3 is Adam and Eve, Genesis 4 and 5 is Cain and Abel, Genesis 6 to Genesis 11 is Noah, and then Genesis 12 to Genesis 25 is Abraham, 25 to 38 is Isaac and Jacob, and then 38 to 50 is Joseph.

Guess there's the book of Genesis for you.

There's these huge blocks of these characters.

And so Abraham gets chapters 11 to chapters 25, and so he is a huge portion of the book of Genesis.

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

Chapters 11 and 12 is when God calls Abraham, tells him to leave his father's family, go to a land that I will show you, I will make you into a great nation, I will multiply you.

This is the whole promise of God to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

Genesis 13 and 14, he disobeys and gets in this whole situation with his nephew Lot.

He has to go to war, get his, get a rescue his nephew Lot, and he has to, he lies about his wife Sarah.

Chapters 13 and 14 is a bunch of drama.

You can go read it later.

Then chapter 15, God comes back to him, and this is what happens in Genesis 15.

Sometime later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision.

So don't be afraid.

Abram, I will protect you, and I am your great, your uh your great reward will be great.

I am your great reward.

But Abraham, look at this, but Abraham replied, O sovereign Lord, what good are all of your blessings when I don't even have a son?

Since you've given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth.

For you have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my descendants will be my heir.

So none of my descendants will be my heir, not one of mine, but none of my descendants will be my heir.

Real quick, uh, is this not the response of God for many of us in our life that when God comes and says he wants to do something great in our life, our response is, I don't have something.

This is the human condition for you and I, isn't it?

That God comes by and says, I want to do this in you.

Don't you see it?

I have a vision, I have a plan, I have good things for you.

And our first response is, I don't have time.

I don't have the money, I don't have the pedigree, I don't have the connections.

Abraham's first response back to God is, I that's great.

You're gonna do something in my life.

I don't have a son.

I don't have the thing that you want to play.

So the next slide, God comes back and says, Then the Lord said to him, No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.

Then the Lord took Abraham outside and said, Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can.

So that's how many descendants you will have.

And look at this.

This is what Hebrews 11 tells us, and Abraham believed the Lord.

And the Lord counted him as righteous.

This is so important because he because of his faith.

This is this is just as a way of reduction to this text, but it's so powerful.

God comes and says, I want to do something great in your life.

And Abraham's response is a response of lack.

I don't have.

God responds back with, I'm gonna do it.

And Abraham goes, Well, then I just then I believe you.

And this is what Hebrews 11 context uh uh gives us context, like that.

This is what made Abraham the father of faith.

This is what accounted to him as righteous, is not the thing that he lacked, but the thing that he had.

And by the way, this is all God is looking for.

For some people to just go, I believe you against all odds, against the data, against the stats, against my history, against what I've been told.

God, if that is your word, I believe you.

And this is what I love about God is faith makes up the difference.

Faith makes up the difference in your life.

God calls thee to do this, have uh seed or a future like the stars of the sky, and I have none.

Faith makes up the difference.

And God is just looking for some people, just like Abraham, to go, God, I believe you.

Don't know why I believe you, don't know what I believe, but I you you you spoke this, God, I believe you.

This is that that accounted as righteousness for Abraham's sake.

So here we go.

Here's our beginning of our story.

And when you read these two little verses, verses one to six, you're like, this man is a man of faith, has no kids, he believed God, he believed the word of God, he's accounted as righteous.

Man, when you read this story, you tend to, if we just stopped here, go, man, what a man of faith.

I want to be just like Abraham.

Let's go to the next chapter when this story gets pretty interesting.

Genesis 16.

Now, Sarah, Abram's wife, had not been able to bear children for him.

But she had an Egyptian servant or maidservant named Hagar.

Hagar came from in the season when Abraham went to war with these people to save Lot, and they sent Abram on his way with like cattle and money and people.

So Hagar came from this battle that he had with all these kings chapters earlier.

But look what happens.

But so Sarah said to Abram.

Notice she doesn't say it to God.

Sarah says to Abram, the Lord has prevented me from having children.

Within a chapter, they've gone from I believe the word of the Lord, to now God has prevented me from getting the thing he said I would have.

In one chapter, God has gone from the gift to the curse.

In one chapter, God has gone from the promiser to the withholder.

Within one chapter, it's gone from, God, I believe you, I'm gonna have children, I'm gonna have a son and an heir, and it's gonna be like the stars in the sky, God, I believe you, accounted as righteous, within a chapter.

She's now telling Abraham, it's God's fault I don't have kids.

It's actually God preventing me from having children.

Now look what she does.

This is very important, stay with me.

She then says, Well, God's not gonna give me kids, so why don't you go sleep with my servant?

And perhaps I will have kids through her.

And this has always made me laugh.

And Abraham said, All right.

Ha ha ha.

Sarah's like, hey, we're old, we can't have kids.

My servant's young, babe, why don't you go sleep with a servant?

He's like, I if I must, I just Abraham is like, I agree.

Alright, you your word, you want me to, right?

This is your your idea.

And and Abraham agreed.

Um, but but we all all often do the same thing that he did, which I will get into in a second.

And then look what happened.

So Sarah, Sarai, took Abram's wife, took Hagar, and she gave it.

For this happened, look at this.

The Bible gives us details of ten years.

Look at this.

Let's just pause here in this text for a second.

It is just like them, and it's just like you and I, to believe God after seven days of the prayer, but ten years later is a different story.

This has been ten years since God said, I will give you children.

And Abraham's like, I believe you.

I mean, counted as righteous, but how many know that you can pray something at an altar, and if God does not answer it in seven days, we think God just works in our timeline.

If God does not do it quickly, we think he's we think he's unfaithful.

And so many of us are just like these two people before we start judging.

We are just like them.

Within days and months of the prayer of God, we're like, I believe you, God, I believe you.

But after three years, after five years, after ten years, she's like, I just don't believe you anymore.

I did back when I was 20.

I did back when I was 40, but now that you are taking your sweet time, I don't believe you anymore.

And look what she does.

She says, Okay, I I don't believe God's gonna give me kids, and God's not faithful to his word, so I need to do something about it.

And she tells her husband, you need to go make Hagar your wife and have sex with her, and maybe I'll get kids that way.

Now, I think it's funny that Abraham was like, Yeah, you're right, I'll do it, fine.

But also, you have to understand this is their way of IVF, this is their way of surrogacy.

You have to understand there's no petri dishes, there is no sperm clinics, there is no IVF 30, like this is their way in the ancient world.

So before we judge, he's just doing what he thinks is logically right.

He's like, Okay, I guess we're not gonna have kids through your womb because she's 75 or 90 years old at this point.

So I better find a better way.

In other words, just like Abraham and Sarah, you and I oftentimes, when we when we believe that God is taking longer than we think, we think God needs our help.

Before we cast the stone toward Abraham and Sarah, friend, you and I, many times in our life, we do the same.

If God does not do it in our way, in our timing, in the way we want him to do it, in the time we want him to do it, we start thinking, God needs my help.

I think God has forgotten what he spoke to me.

Let me remind him.

I think I I think God forgot what he said he was gonna do.

Let me help him out.

And look what she does.

Did you did you pick it up?

Does this sound familiar?

Sarah, Abram's wife, took and gave.

Is that registering to any other Bible people in the room?

Of another story when Eve took the fruit and gave it to Adam.

This is another mirroring image of another family that is now way longer than Adam and Eve.

It's now generations later, are doing the same exact thing and believing God is withholding from me, so I better get involved.

Is that not the same thing Adam and Eve did when God said, Do not touch that tree?

And they trusted him for some time, and after a while they go, That tree looks pretty good.

I think God's withholding from us.

And what does the serpent say?

Don't you realize that God doesn't want you to become like him?

In other words, don't you realize that that tree is God's withholding in your life?

And what does the Bible say?

Eve, in the same Hebrew word, the Bible says, Eve goes to the tree of the knowledge of good evil.

She takes the fruit and gives it to her husband.

Now we have another wife not taking fruit, but taking a woman and giving her to her husband.

This is the same exact mirroring image of Genesis 3 all over again.

So apparently, this is the Bible's way of highlighting.

Apparently, Adam and Eve have put something into the human condition that when we don't think we can trust God, we will take matters into our own hands.

Friends, what is in your life right now that you think God needs your help?

No, no, no, I'm just doing some networking.

Yeah, but God told you don't.

No, I'm just sending some feelers out.

I'm just sending some emails, but God said, trust him.

No, I'm just dating around, I'm just like types of people.

No, God told you this season is for you and him right now.

But like, what in your life right now have you decided God is taking too long, doing it in the wrong way, in the wrong timing, and you've decided right now in your life God needs my help.

And I need to force my hand, I need to get involved and make sure that God's word comes to pass.

Now look what happens again.

Abraham, she says, Why don't you just take Hagar?

And Abraham agrees.

Again, isn't this just like Adam and Eve, where the Bible says that Eve takes the fruit and hands it to Adam, and Adam just eats it.

That was Adam's opportunity to tell Eve, no, no, no, God said, Don't.

I know what God said, Eve.

God said, Do not touch that tree.

God said, Don't eat of that tree.

I trust God.

His word said no.

Adam missed an opportunity, and silence robbed him of his faith.

Here's another example of a man going silent when he should have spoken up and told his wife, saying, No, no, no, I don't need Hagar.

I trust the word of the Lord.

No, Abraham, no, no, Sarah, listen.

God told me it would come through you and die.

And I believe God and I have faith.

We do not need to force our hand.

And look how sin multiplies itself.

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve abused fruit.

Now we're abusing humans.

Because sin is never happy with the pot of land you gave it.

It always wants more.

Sin is never happy with the little corner you gave it.

Sin is never happy with the little time you give it.

It will want more.

It will want more land and more time and more mental real estate and more relationships.

And now this lady, this young servant named Hagar, is now involved in a scenario that she should never be in simply because Abraham and Sarah decided God needs my help.

Friends, really simple today.

I've just come to remind, I don't know who I'm preaching to.

Trust the word of the Lord.

You don't need to kick that door open.

God has not lost the key.

He knows when to open it.

You are not in hiding.

God knows where to find you when he needs you.

You don't have to let him know your address and your dates and your time and how old you are and what your gifts are.

He made you, he fashioned you, he knows where you're at.

Even if you're like David, like I'm on the hills in the back of the field, God knows where to find you when he needs you.

Even if you're in a season of life where it feels like people above you have forgotten you, God knows where to find you.

He knows your name, he knows your address, he knows where you live, he knows your skill set, he knows what he put in you.

Have faith settle in your heart today.

I do not need to help God out.

God is God all by himself.

And God will open the door when he feels like opening that door, and he will shut a door that feels like being shut.

Younger saints in the room, learn this about God.

You can't kick hard enough to open a door, he's closed.

And you are not strong enough to close a door, he's opening.

God is God all by himself.

He knows where to find you.

You do not have to integrate and force yourself into this situation.

God is faithful to his word.

I think it's pretty good.

Is this friends?

Look, go to go to chapter 15.

Is this not a good picture of us on Sundays?

I believe you, Lord! Go to 16.

By Wednesday, we're like, He needs my help.

Is this not the picture of you and I and our faith?

Some weeks we're like, I trust God, He can do it.

I have faith.

And the next month we're like, He's lost me.

He doesn't know where I'm at, God has forgotten.

Let me remind him what he said.

Let me open some doors for him.

Let me email some people for him.

Let me just help him out a little bit.

Friends, this is such a good picture of my faith and your faith that some days we trust him, and some days it is a struggle.

Why?

Because in chapter 15, he felt like God was for him.

In chapter 16, she feels like God's against her.

Have you ever been in a season where you don't feel like the world is against you, but God is against you?

God is closing these doors.

God won't allow me.

God won't give me.

God won't say.

Friends, if you're gonna serve Jesus for decades, not weeks, decades, you're gonna have some moments of where Jesus said, I think God is against me right now.

I feel like he's not doing what he said.

And when that lie seeps in that God has forgotten you, he's not faithful to his word, you feel the necessity to help him out.

And I've come to remind you today, he does not need your help.

He does not need your help.

I trust God, I believe God, I have faith.

That's great.

Let's look at this quote by Dallas Willard.

I love this quote.

Look at this.

We don't believe something by merely saying we believe it.

Or even, I love this, when we believe that we believe it.

We believe something when we act as if it was true.

Look at this.

You can live opposite to what you profess.

You cannot live opposite to what you believe.

So, question.

If you're like, I believe God, are you acting like it's true?

I believe God is faithful, are you acting like it's true?

I believe God is for me, are you acting like it's true?

I believe God is kind, are you acting like it's true?

Are the things that you believe up here truthfully believe?

Are you acting like it's true?

But for many of us, we can do this, can't we?

We can profess, but we act differently.

I totally believe God, but you're over here scheming to take care of it.

I totally trust God.

Let me help it.

Like, do you believe it?

Do you actually believe God is for you?

Do you actually believe He has plans to prosper you and to bless you?

Do you actually believe you're the head and not the tail?

Do you actually believe he has a purpose for you?

Do you actually believe that?

If you do, are you acting like it's true?

Abraham, I'm gonna bless you.

Give you descendants like the stars of the sky.

God, I believe you.

And then within 10 years, he's like, I need the help, God, get out.

And then the Bible says that he does.

He sleeps with Hagar.

He is Ishmael.

She, the Bible kind of gives a perspective that Hagar gets pregnant like the first night.

Like the Bible makes it like this image of like immediately.

So after 10, 15 years of waiting with Sarah, it happens immediately with Hagar.

Now look at chapter 21.

This is where I want to end.

Just end for a little bit, and then we're gonna sing.

Look at chapter 21.

And this phrase has just been rotating in my heart.

And the Lord is working.

And this is a phrase that I hate in the sentence.

I will keep my word when I feel like fulfilling it.

You know what's annoying about this is that God did not tell Abraham and Sarah, I will give you a kid.

It will be 25 years.

Little detail God left out.

All he said is, I'm gonna give you a kid.

I think actually Abraham and Sarah would have never done the Hagar thing if they knew it was 25 years.

They would be counting down.

Right?

Oh, it's me?

Look, well, God said 25 years.

It's been 17, we're almost there.

They did not know the timeline.

That's why faith comes in.

Because we walk by faith, not by sight.

I can see numbers going down.

I can see calendar going away.

I can see those things.

But when God does not give us details, it is just sharing, God, I believe you.

I don't know when it's coming, but I believe you.

I don't know how it's coming, but I believe you.

I don't know where it's gonna come from, but I know it's coming.

I believe you.

Why?

Because we serve a God that keeps his word.

Now, I'm I'm probably a bit pettier than God.

And if I was God, once Abraham sleeps with Hagar and gets Ishmael, the Bible then says, we didn't read it today, the Bible says he comes back in chapter 17 and he tells Sarah, I know, I told you it was gonna come from your womb.

I told you that.

The Bible says that Sarah laughs at God.

This is so cool.

Then the Bible says that God goes, Did you laugh at me?

And Sarah goes, I didn't laugh, and God goes, You laughed.

It's so good.

I heard that.

I heard you laughing.

She goes, We're old.

This is this is profound, friends.

If I had another hour, we go through this.

Abraham then goes to God and goes, Why not just use Ishmael?

Let's just forget about the Isaac thing.

Ishmael's pretty good, isn't he?

That's our nature, that we want God to bless something we produced without him.

God, no, no, that that job was cool, but look what I did.

Can't we just work with this?

No job, that that girl was cool, but what about this one or that job or that state or that church?

Or no God, I know you had some better plans, but look at what I did.

Can't we just bless the thing I did without you?

Anybody else in the room have some Ishmaels in their life?

Those are things that you self-produced, but you want God to bless it?

Even though you created it without him?

If I was God, dude, you made your bed sleep in it.

Go ahead.

Let's use that, let's use Ishmael.

I had if I was God, I had Isaac for you, I had better plans for you, I had better options for you.

Oh, Isaac was gonna be so much better than this, but hey, you forced your hand.

I guess you tied mine.

Hey, because you got involved.

I guess I'm gonna have to submit to your disobedience.

I had something so much better for you, Abram, but I guess we're stuck with Ishmael.

No, God does not do that.

Because God is not like you.

God is not like me, he's not like your ex.

He's not like your old boss, he's not like your neighbor, he's not like your old girlfriend.

God is unlike any human being on this planet.

You know why?

Because hear me, God is faithful to unfaithful people.

We could close and pray right now.

This is good news, friends, that your unfaithfulness does not dictate God's faithfulness in your life.

Your up and down does not dictate God's up and down with you.

God is steadfast, he is faithful, he is consistent, he is always there.

Though we are up and down, though we are faithful, unfaithful.

We're in church, we're out of church, we believe, we don't believe.

God is still there.

Do you know why?

Because God is not faithful to your word, he's faithful to his.

Hear me?

God does not have to honor your word, but he will honor his.

Just because you said it does not mean God has to do it.

Your word does not dictate God's faithfulness.

Oh, but I'll tell you right now, he will honor his word.

And he kept his word.

When you look at the story of Abraham, now follow me.

My handwriting really bad.

It's gonna look like Hebrew, but just follow along.

Chapter 12.

Let's just call this the faithfulness of God.

Okay?

It's the pen, not me.

I have way better handwriting than.

But friends, I need to remind you today, especially those of you that have been saved for a long time, you started because he was faithful to you.

Genesis 12.

God called Abraham, God pulled him out of the land, God set him on his feet.

You are here today, or you are saved.

Not because you were good, it's because God found you.

You did not find him, he found you.

You did not call upon him, he called upon you.

You did not save yourself, you did not navigate your way to God, you were lost in your sin and your shame, and God chose you, founds you, and names you.

We all start because God has been faithful.

Or the word I want to use right now is kind.

Then, chapters thirteen to twenty-four, I would like to call the messy, you get it, journey of faith.

Shut up, okay, I'm all right.

And then the Bible says in chapter twenty-five.

The Bible says in chapter focus people.

The Bible says in chapter twenty-five that in his ripe old age, Abraham died after living for the Lord and living a satisfying life.

In other words.

Kind of like our faith journey.

I pray that you understand that your life is gonna be bookend by the faithfulness and kindness of God.

Even, hear me, even though you are so committed to messing up the entire middle part.

Come on.

Is this not the picture of a lot of our faith?

He called me, I screwed up, but he was still there.

He found me, I ran away, but he found me again.

He called me by name, I called him outside his name, and he called me by name again.

Like, is this not the picture of the faith journey?

He calls us, the middle is a big old mess, but he is faithful toward the end.

Again, I'm repeating myself from last week because I think this is so important during the season.

Could you imagine some neighbor friends coming over to Abraham going, I see you got Isaac?

You got the promise of God in your life, don't you?

Yeah, after 25 years, God is faithful and he gave us He gave us Isaac.

How did it happen?

Abraham has a choice to make.

It's because he was faithful.

Or he has to tell people when they ask about Isaac, I mean, let me tell you about how God was kind to me.

You got Isaac, right?

You're a man of faith.

Kinda.

I've had some faith days.

I've also had some pretty big doubt days.

And the only reason I have Isaac in my life is not because I was faithful, it's because God decided to be kind to me.

Now, see, the the immature believer in the room might think this.

Oh, well then who cares what I do here, I'm still getting this.

So you're telling me then, Pastor, I can do whatever I want.

And God has to be faithful to his word?

Kinda, kinda.

What I mean by kinda is this.

What we don't see here, because I skipped some of the chapters because it'd just be too much reading, is you can go read it in chapters 16, 17, 18.

Abraham sleeps with Hagar.

They have Ishmael.

The Bible says that after Ishmael was born, that Sarah and Hagar hate each other, as two wives would.

And by the way, uh not one verse in all of the Bible ever supported polygamy.

So this is not your like, see, the even faithful people have multiple wives.

Like, this is not your text to argue for polygamy.

Uh, there's not one time in all of the Bible that God ever prescribed or condoned polygamy ever, ever, ever, zero times ever.

Um, but Abraham marries Hagar and they have kids now, the two wives.

Read it.

Chapter 16 and 17.

Hagar and Sarah are at war with each other.

Why?

Because Hagar gave Abraham something Sarah could not.

And we tend to hate people that can give God things we can't.

So the Bible says in chapter 16 that Sarah hates Hagar so much.

She kicks Hagar and infant Ishmael into the desert and says, Go die in the desert.

You will not stay in my family.

Could you imagine the torn nature of Abraham in that moment?

That is his seed.

That is a part of Abraham's heir, but it's not through the way that God said it was, and that and Sarah wins.

Sarah sends Hagar and Ishmael into the desert to die.

God is so kind, he still meets with Hagar in the desert, gives her water, brings her back.

Abraham and Sarah.

Then in chapter 21, Sarah has Isaac.

So it's in Ishmael's 15, 18 years older, somewhere in there, than Isaac.

So look at it's another older brother hating a younger brother.

Sound familiar?

Cain and Abel?

Because disobedience always does not ruin just your life, it ruins those connected to you.

And and the Bible then says in chapters 17 and 18 and 19, sorry, 20, 21, 22, that now it's not just Hagar and Sarah, now it's Ishmael and Isaac that are hating each other and they're at war.

So look at this.

Though Abraham got the blessing of God in his life, it came with scars.

So yes, yes, God is so good, he will keep his word.

But if you don't obey in the middle, you will receive the word with tears, not joy.

Yes, friends, this is good theology, by the way.

Yes, God will do what he said because he's faithful.

Even if you are not, he will remain faithful.

But if you aren't obedient in the hallway, when the door opens, you will either walk through it or stumble through it.

And Ishmael and Isaac are at war.

Hagar and Sarah are at war.

So listen to me.

Just because God is faithful does not mean there are consequences when you disobey.

There are some very real consequences when we decide to disobey God.

Though we will still receive the word of God in our life.

Now, Hebrews 11 is some 4,000 years later, post Abraham, okay?

So some 4,000 years later, Hebrews, the author of Hebrews, is recounting Abel, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Sarah.

You know, all these characters.

This writer is looking backward some 4,000 years and telling us that these people were people of faith.

After reading this story, we skipped some chapters, but after reading it, would you then feel comfortable saying, Abraham's a man of faith?

How would you describe him to your friends?

Look what Hebrews 11 describes him as.

This is so good.

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed.

Did he really?

When God called him to leave his home and go to another land, that would give him his heritage without knowing where he was going.

Even when he reached the land, God promised him.

He lived there.

Are you reading the same story I'm reading?

The author is counting back and going, that's faith.

Okay, you missed it.

God is so kind that even how he describes your disobedience.

When others ask about it, they go, that's a man of faith right there.

And you know good and well.

Not really, Lord.

How God defines you to others is sheer kindness.

How God recounts your stories is sheer kindness.

Could you imagine?

We'll just placate this for a little bit.

That God was walking down the street and some angel came up and goes, What's Abraham like?

Let me tell you what Abraham's like.

He's a man of faith.

And he obeyed me when I told him to go.

And not only that did he start by faith, he lived in the land by faith.

You'd be like, whoa.

And then you go read the stories and go, Who are you recounting?

Because God, even how he describes your failures, is from a position of kindness.

Friends, you and I have choices to make right now, and I'm repeating myself.

I told you I would.

I might do the part three next week.

Maybe I'm done after today.

I don't know.

But I just really feel from the Lord in this season of our church, your marriage, your friendships, your business, your children, I'm asking you, I'm imploring you.

Let me get biblical.

I beseech you there, brothers and sisters, to start slowing down and thinking about his kindness.

Even when you have forced your way, when you have kicked doors that open that should never have been opened, even when you stuck your nose in things you should have never stuck your nose in, God has been that kind.

And you have choices to make, you and I.

That when people come by and ask you what the Isaacs in your life, your marriage, your kids, your money, your business, your creativity, your jobs, your ingenuity, your entrepreneurship, your art, whatever it is.

When people come by and ask you, like, what's about that Isaac?

You go, why don't you sit down?

Let me tell you about a time that God was really kind to me.

I want this to be in our your your mouth this week.

That God has been kind.

There's this um this podcast that I listen to and YouTube.

It's by uh this man named Malcolm Guite, and he is a British man, he has a huge beard, smokes an old school pipe, and I want to beat him so bad.

And uh he just his accent is so cool.

Um he could just say, like, I was drinking water, and I'm like, I want water now.

And he just his accent's so cool.

And but he's like a C.

S.

Lewis and Tolkien scholar, and the podcast is about him talking about C.

S.

Lewis and Tolkien, and um, he's also a poet and he writes these amazing poems, and he and he quoted this in one of the podcasts.

And this is just I'm not a big poem guy, but this poem has just been in my mind.

Look what he says.

I cannot think, he's a believer too, by the way, but I cannot think unless I have been thought.

Nor can I speak unless I have been spoken.

I cannot teach except as I'm taught, or break the bread except as I am broken.

O mind behind the mind through which I seek, O light within the light with which I see, O word beneath the words with which I speak, founding unfound wisdom, finding me.

Do you see the core of the poem?

He's like, the only reason I can think is because someone thought me.

The only reason I can speak is because someone spoke me.

The only reason I have a mind to think is because there's a mind behind the mind.

The only reason I have light to see is because there's a light behind the light.

Because God is there.

Underneath everything, underlying everything, is Him.

Behind your thoughts, it's because you've been thought into existence.

You've been spoken into existence.

You are here because there's a mind behind your mind.

You could have words because there's a word underneath all the words you speak.

There's a light behind all the light that we see.

I think it's just his way of just kind of saying what I'm saying is like we need to be reminded of God's utter kindness.

Ma'am, how did you get that Isaac?

Because you worked really hard?

No, ma'am, you got that Isaac because God was kind to you.

So you got that business because your acumen is that high?

No, sir.

You got that business because God is kind to you.

That's it.

That's it.

I pray you'd be overwhelmed by his kindness this week.

Let your memories remind you of his kindness.

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