Abraham and Doubt
Notes
Transcript
What do I believe God wants us to know? He can handle our doubts and give hope to our doubts
Why? We struggle with doubt and look for hope
What do I believe God wants us to do? Take our doubts to him and trust Him
Why? It gives us peace and hope
ME/WE
Today I am going to address for a a sensitive subject for some people.
It is subject that we all have wrestled with from time to time in varying degrees. One point to another and WILL probably struggle with. Not a nay sayer, just pointed out the humanity of our flesh. .Where sometime the struggle is highly intense and other times we wrestle with it in the morning and it is gone by noon.
The subject I am talking about is DOUBT.
Anybody ever struggle with doubt? Look around
What is doubt?
It is uncertainty that God will come through for you
Two of the reasons why it is sensitive we don’t want to talk about it or admit we doubt are
Doubt root is FEAR and WORRY and we don’t want people to know we are WORRIED or AFRAID...I have to be strong!
Is contradictory to our faith...We are called people of faith and how can I doubt so we feel EMBARESSED, WEAK, ASHAMED that DOUBT
Good news
1. God can handle your doubts and we will see that in a moment
2. Many people of the faith doubted.
Moses.....DOUBTED the call of God
David
Thomas
John the Baptist.....hardship came and questioned if Jesus was the MESSIAH
And many others
3. When we go to God, God turns our DOUBTS to HOPE
4. FAITH is antidote to doubt
Let’s turn to chapter 15 of Genesis which takes place 10 years after Abram receives the promise that Abram and Sarai will have a child in the rip old age of 75 and 65 in Genesis 12. IT HAS BEEN 10 YEARS SINCE THEY HAVE RECEIVED THE PROMISE.
THIS IS ALREAY SETTING UP HOW WE MIGHT BE FEELING IF WE WERE ABRAM AND SARAI
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
Why is God saying this? What just happened? Why would Abram need to hear this? Why might Abram need to hear this?
You would be PROUD of ABRAM, he’s growing in his faith.
There was a battle and Lot his nephew was capture and Abram rescued them.
In the previous chapter we
So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.
Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.
There was a battle and Lot his nephew was capture and Abram rescued them.
Abram is home. Lot is safe. The battle is over. The adrenaline has faded.
But then… fear starts to creep in.
What fear creeps in?
Abram is wondering:
“What if the evil kings want revenge for me rescuing Lot? What if they come after me?”
Abram’s doubt wonders: “Did doing the right thing just make me a target?”
AND we evil doesn’t play fair.
We’ve been there:
- You stood up at work for what’s right… now you fear retaliation.
- You spoke the truth in love… and now your words are being twisted.
And in that moment, we ask:
“God, are You going to protect me?”
HOW DOES GOD RESPOND? GOD SAY TO ABRAM and US IN OUR DOUBT IS
I am your SHIELD
I am your protector. I will protect you
I am reward...I am your provider
what God is saying to us to worry what will happen if we stand up for what is right is you do not need to doubt if GOD will protect or provide
GOD SAYS I AM BIGGER THAN ANY GOLIATHS YOU WILL FACE...DON’T DOUBT MY PROVISION OR PROTECTOIN.
STAND FOR WHAT IS RIGHT, EVEN WHEN IT IS HARD and comfortable
God is saying do the right thing, even though it is hard.
2. DOUBT TWO: THIS IS DOUBTING THE PROMISES OF GOD
we have been here
God while I have your attention I have a question
A ten year old question
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, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
Remember that promise…It has been 10 years.
Did I miss hear you?
Eliezer was a servant (name means God is my help)
What I love about Abram is he goes to God with his questions
Do you know you can question God respectfully?
Wait? I can question God!?!
Are you allowed to question God??? I was taught “God said it that settles it.”
I think some of the confusion is we equate TESTING GOD to QUESTIONING GOD...We are to test God...put God on trail
Our relationship with Him is Father and child relationship
Those who walk with God question God. All over the PSALMS
AND people in the Bible questioned God frequently with respect. The Psalms are full of questions.
Why do we do this? And God wants us to do it?
1. The reason we ASK QUESTIONS TO GOD do this is because we have a relationship with Him.
2. Do you know what you get when you question God? He gives you TRUTH AND SHALOM, peace
God speaks TRUTH to our anxiety and He reminds us of who He is and who we are to Him.
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Wait I thought you said we can question God, but now you are talking about prayer.
Prayer is talking to God
One of the reasons we get peace is because TRUTH comes to our anxiety.
This happens to Abram
GOD RESPONDS WITH TRUTH
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
God reminds Abram in his conversation that the promise is still at work. Yes it has been 10 years and he does not know it yet but it will another 15 years before a child comes.
And how does Abram respond after God speaks to him?
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
This is a turning point. For the first time, Scripture says Abram believed the Lord—and it was counted to him as righteousness.
What’s fascinating is this:
God didn’t call Abram righteous when he obeyed—but when he believed.
Some of us are wrestling with doubts right now:
God, will You really provide?
Will You come through financially?
Will You open that door I thought You promised?
Will You meet my relational or emotional needs?
And here’s God’s invitation to His children:
Bring your questions. Bring them every day.
He’s not afraid of your doubts—He welcomes them.
Do it daily.
3. Then Abram does what any of us would do—he asks,
"But how can I know this will actually happen?"
I have heard the word
Genesis 15:7–8 (ESV)
And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
It’s the honest question of someone who wants to trust but is still waiting. Abram is saying:
"God, I’ve followed You this far. I’ve left everything. But I need reassurance. How can I be sure?"
And what does God do next?
He makes a covenant. It is a legal agreement.
Now, we miss this at first because we don’t make covenants like they did in the ancient world. But what follows in Genesis 15 is a practice seen in many ancient cultures—and it’s even described in Jeremiah 34.
Let me read what happens next:
Genesis 15:9–11 (ESV)
He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
Okay—what is going on here?
This seems strange to us, but in those days, this was how people made covenants—sacred, binding agreements.
Two parties would take animals, cut them in half, and lay the pieces opposite each other. Then, they would walk together between the pieces, declaring, in effect:
“If I break this covenant, may I end up like these animals—torn to pieces.”
It was a dramatic way of saying, “I’m all in. My word is my life.”
So Abram prepares the covenant ceremony. He expects that he and God will walk between the pieces together. Abram is ready to stake his life on this promise.
But then something unexpected happens:
Genesis 15:12 (ESV)
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
Wait—what? Right as it’s time to walk with God, Abram falls into a deep sleep.
You almost want to shout: “Abram! Wake up! You’re missing the moment!”
But then comes the most astonishing part:
Genesis 15:17 (ESV)
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
**While Abram is asleep, God walks through the pieces—**alone.
What does this mean?
It means everything.
God is saying two mind-blowing things:
God is saying two mind-blowing things:
1. “If I fail to keep My promise to you, may I be torn to pieces.”
God binds Himself to the promise with unimaginable commitment.
2. “If you fail—if you can’t stay faithful—may I still be torn to pieces.”
God takes on both sides of the covenant.
Does Abram fail? Yes
Do we fail? Yes
Who gets torn to pieces?
Jesus
is this not what Jesus has done for you
God says to you even if I don’t keep my promises to you may I be torn to pieces.
And he also says and if you don’t keep your promises may He be torn to pieces.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
What God says to us DO NOT DOUBT if He will come through because he already has.
Don’t doubt standing up for what is right. SHIELD and REWARD. Protecter and provider
Promises hold true. Go to Him
God keeps His promises look to the cross
