Waiting Reveals True Faith

Genesis 15:1–6 KJV (WS)

1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Text Idea: Waiting faith is revealed in Genesis 15–16 as Abram receives God’s covenant promise with belief, yet later struggles with Sarai to trust God’s timing when the promised son has not yet come.

Sermon Idea: True faith is revealed when we trust God’s promise without trying to control God’s process.

Purpose: I want my hearers to surrender their need for control and wait faithfully on God’s promise, even when His timing tests their patience.

Introduction

Attention:

Waiting has a way of showing us what is really in our hearts.

It is easy to say, “I trust God,” when things are moving forward.

But when nothing changes, when the answer does not come, and when the promise still feels out of reach, fear starts talking and control starts looking reasonable.

That is where Abram and Sarai are in Genesis 15 and 16.

They have God’s promise, but they are still waiting on God’s timing.

And in their story, we see that true faith is revealed not just by what we believe in a moment, but by how we wait over time.

Need:

We need this because sooner or later, all of us find ourselves waiting on something we cannot control.

We pray, we hope, we try to do right, but the situation still does not change.

And that is when waiting gets dangerous.

Fear gets louder.

Control starts looking responsible.

Shortcuts start sounding wise.

This message matters because if we do not learn to trust God in the waiting, we may create pain we never meant to cause.

But if we do learn to wait with faith, we can find peace, clarity, and confidence in the God who always keeps His word.

History:

By the time we reach Genesis 15, Abram has already answered God’s call to leave his homeland and follow Him by faith.

God had promised to make of him a great nation, to bless him, and to give his descendants the land.

But years have passed, and Abram still has no child.

In Genesis 14, Abram has just rescued Lot, refused the riches of Sodom, and received blessing from Melchizedek.

Yet after all of that, the central tension remains unresolved: God has promised Abram a seed, but Abram and Sarai are still waiting.

That is the burden Genesis 15 and 16 bring into focus.

Interrogative: How is true faith revealed?

Transition: Genesis 15–16 shows us that true faith is revealed in three ways: by bringing our fears honestly before God, by resting in His promise, and by refusing to take control through shortcuts.

Body

Division #1 - True faith is revealed by bringing our fears honestly before God. Genesis 15:1–6

Explain:

God meets Abram in the fear created by delay.

Genesis 15 opens with God saying, “Fear not, Abram.”

Abram had just experienced a great victory in Genesis 14, but he still carried the ache of an unfulfilled promise.

He had God’s word, but he did not yet have the promised son.

God says, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.”

Before God talks about what Abram will receive, He reminds Abram who He is.

The word shield speaks of protection and defense.

Abram’s security is not found in visible progress, but in the Lord Himself.

Supporting Scripture: Psalm 84:11 — “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory.”

Abram brings his unanswered question directly to God.

Abram asks, “Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless?”

This is not rebellion.

It is honest faith.

Abram does not deny God’s promise, but he does not understand how God will fulfill it.

True faith does not mean we never have questions.

True faith means we know where to take our questions.

Abram brings his burden to God instead of letting it drive him away from God.

Supporting Scripture: Mark 9:24 — “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

God brings Abram back to His promise and counts him righteous by faith.

God corrects Abram’s assumption about Eliezer and says, “He that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.”

Then God points Abram to the stars and says, “So shall thy seed be.”

Abram’s faith rests on God’s specific word, not on wishful thinking.

Genesis 15:6 says, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

Abram is not counted righteous because he understands the timeline or waits perfectly.

He is counted righteous because he believes God.

Supporting Scripture: Romans 4:3 — “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”

Illustrate: A child bringing a broken toy to his father

A child does not always understand what is wrong with the toy.

He may not know how to describe the problem.

He may even be upset and frustrated.

But he knows where to take it.

He brings it to his father.

That fits Abram in Genesis 15.

Abram does not understand how God’s promise will be fulfilled, but he brings the ache directly to the Lord.

True faith is not pretending the fear is not there.

True faith knows where to take the fear.

Waiting reveals true faith when delay drives us toward God with our fears instead of away from God in silence.

Argue: If God already knows our fear, and if only God’s Word can strengthen our faith, then true faith brings fear into His presence instead of hiding it from Him.

Apply:

Waiting often reveals the fears we have learned to hide:

fear that God has forgotten,

fear that time is running out,

fear that obedience has not “worked,”

or fear that the promise will never become visible.

Abram did not pretend those fears were absent. He brought them to the Lord.

What fear have I been carrying privately that I need to bring honestly before God?

This week, write one honest prayer to God that begins with this sentence: “Lord, I believe You, but I am struggling to trust You with…”

Name the specific fear, then answer it with one specific promise from Scripture.

Transition: Abram’s honest question brings his fear into the presence of God, but God does not leave him with a feeling. He gives him a promise to rest on.

Division #2 - True faith is revealed by resting in God’s promise. Genesis 15:7–21

Explain:

God anchors Abram’s future in His past faithfulness.

God says, “I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees.”

Before God points Abram forward, He reminds him of what He has already done.

Abram did not bring himself out of Ur.

God called him, led him, and had been faithful to him.

Waiting faith is strengthened by remembering.

Sometimes our present circumstance can distract us from what God has done.

When the future feels uncertain, we need to look back at the evidence of God’s faithfulness.

Supporting Scripture: Psalm 77:11 — “I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.”

God gives Abram covenant assurance.

Abram asks, “Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?”

God answers through a covenant ceremony.

In Abram’s world, divided animals represented the seriousness of a binding covenant.

But Abram does not pass between the pieces.

God alone passes through, pictured by “a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp.”

This shows that the promise rests on God’s faithfulness, not Abram’s control.

Supporting Scripture: Hebrews 10:23 — “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised.”

God reveals that His timeline is bigger than Abram’s immediate concern.

Abram wants assurance about the promise, but God speaks of descendants, affliction, deliverance, judgment, and inheritance.

God tells him the promise will unfold over generations, not merely in Abram’s preferred timeframe.

God also says, “for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

That means God’s timing involves more than Abram can see.

He is working in families, nations, judgment, mercy, and history.

Supporting Scripture: Habakkuk 2:3 — “Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

Illustrate: A signed contract when the work is not finished yet

When a trustworthy builder signs a contract, the house may not be finished that day, but the commitment has been made.

You may still have to wait through the process, but the signed agreement gives assurance.

Genesis 15 is covenant assurance.

God does not merely tell Abram, “Trust Me.”

He binds Himself to His promise.

Abram still has to wait, but he is waiting on the faithfulness of the God who made covenant.

True faith rests because God’s promise is stronger than the delay between commitment and completion.

Argue: If the promise is God-sized, then it cannot be secured by human control. It must be received by faith and rested in because the God who promised is faithful.

Apply:

When waiting stretches longer than expected, we are tempted to measure God’s faithfulness by what has not happened yet.

But Genesis 15 reminds us that faith rests on who God is, what God has said, and what God has already done.

Am I resting the weight of this situation on God’s faithfulness, or am I carrying it as if the outcome depends entirely on me?

Before making a major decision about the situation you are waiting on, take 15 minutes to list three ways God has already been faithful to you and one Scripture promise that calls you to trust Him now.

Transition: God’s covenant assures Abram that the promise is secure, but the next chapter shows how difficult it can be to keep resting when the promise is still delayed.

Division #3 - True faith is revealed by refusing to take control through shortcuts. Genesis 16:1–16

Explain:

Delay makes control look reasonable.

Genesis 16 begins, “Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children.”

The promise has been given, believed, and confirmed, but the situation has not changed.

This is where waiting becomes dangerous.

Sarai says, “Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing.”

She recognizes God’s sovereignty, but draws the wrong conclusion.

Instead of waiting on the Lord, she looks for another way.

Her plan with Hagar may have been culturally acceptable in that world, but practical does not always mean faithful.

Delay is not permission to disobey.

Abram listens to pressure instead of promise.

Genesis 16:2 says, “Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.”

That phrase echoes Genesis 3:17, where Adam is confronted because he “hearkened unto the voice” of his wife.

The issue is not that Abram listened to Sarai as his wife.

The issue is that he listened to a voice that led him away from God’s word.

In Genesis 15, Abram believed the Lord.

In Genesis 16, he follows the shortcut.

Supporting Scripture: Proverbs 29:25 — “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.”

The shortcut creates pain, but God still shows mercy.

Once Hagar conceives, the household fractures.

Hagar despises Sarai.

Sarai blames Abram.

Abram avoids responsibility.

Sarai deals harshly with Hagar.

Hagar flees.

The shortcut promised relief, but it produced conflict and suffering.

Hagar is not just a side character.

She is a real woman wounded by someone else’s impatience.

Yet God finds her in the wilderness.

She calls Him, “Thou God seest me.”

Her son is named Ishmael, because the Lord heard her affliction.

God is merciful in the mess, but the consequences of impatience remain.

Supporting Scripture: Psalm 34:18 — “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.”

Illustrate: Taking a shortcut on a trip and getting more lost

A shortcut looks good when you are tired of the main road.

It promises to save time.

But sometimes the shortcut takes longer, creates more stress, and leaves everyone in the car frustrated.

Genesis 16 is that kind of shortcut.

Sarai’s plan looks practical, but it leads to conflict.

True faith is revealed when we stay on the road of obedience rather than taking the shortcut of control.

Argue: If a shortcut requires us to step outside trust and obedience, then it is not faith, no matter how practical it seems. True faith refuses control because control cannot produce what only God has promised.

Apply:

Sarai and Abram’s shortcut looked practical, but it was not faithful.

The danger in waiting is that control can begin to feel like wisdom.

We may call it being realistic, proactive, or responsible, when in truth we are trying to force what God has not yet given.

What shortcut am I tempted to take because I am tired of waiting on God?

Identify one specific action you are considering that may be driven more by impatience than obedience.

Delay that action for seven days, pray about it daily, and seek counsel from one spiritually mature believer before moving forward.

Transition: By the end of Genesis 16, the issue is no longer theoretical. Waiting has revealed faith, exposed impatience, and shown the painful difference between trusting God and taking control.

Conclusion

Visualize:

A church that learns to wait by faith becomes steady.

Fears are brought to God instead of buried.

Decisions are shaped by prayer and Scripture instead of panic and pressure.

People still carry burdens, and waiting is still hard, but they are not ruled by delay.

They are anchored by God’s promise, and their lives quietly testify that God can be trusted while they are still waiting.

Reiterate: True faith is revealed when we bring our fears honestly before God, rest in His faithful promise, and refuse to take control through impatient shortcuts.

Action: This week, identify the place where waiting is tempting you to take control, bring that fear honestly before God, and choose one act of obedience that proves you are trusting His promise more than your own shortcut.

Appeal:

And if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, the first step of true faith is not learning how to wait better.

It is coming to the One who has already fulfilled God’s greatest promise.

Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again so you could be forgiven, made righteous before God, and brought into His family.

Abram was counted righteous because he believed God, and today God still saves sinners by faith.

Stop trying to make yourself right with God.

Stop trusting your goodness, your religion, or your control.

Turn from your sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Receive the gospel by faith today.