By faith he [Abraham] lived (Heb 11:9). The writer of Hebrews outlines four stages of Abraham’s journey of faith. He began with faith to go to a land God would show him and give him (v8); Second, by faith, he lived in the land of promise, (v9); Third, after 25 years of just living, he progressed in his faith to believe for a miracle that Sarah at age 90 would give birth to a son (v9); Finally, by faith, he followed the Lord’s instruction to sacrifice his son Isaac (v17). Of course, God accepted Abraham’s obedience to the point of raising his knife and spared Isaac’s life. The purpose of this SW focuses on ‘faith to live’. Believers may not realize the amount of faith it requires just ‘to live’. Abraham and Sarah had a few exciting moments, but overall the 25 years between the promise and birth of Isaac their life was mostly routine—in other words, same ole, same ole.
Their daily routine went much like the average couple today. The husband got up, ate breakfast, and went to work; for Abraham, it was managing his sheep business. Sarah, like wives today, got up before everyone else and prepared breakfast. During the day she managed her household, cleaned, and prepared the evening meal. When they retired for bed, both knew they would get up and do the same things again tomorrow. I wonder if the promise of a son was prevalent in their thoughts. Did Sarah inform Abraham every month, “No, baby this cycle?” Or was there conversations like, “Abe, you must have misunderstood what God said! I’m too old for this.” With years of same ole, same ole, did they give up? We do know they tried to help God out by Abraham impregnating Sarah’s handmaid, Hagar, as a surrogate to birth Ishmael who they adopted. However, this turned into a lifelong source of pain. But when Abraham and Sarah returned to just living, God blessed them with Isaac.
When an acquaintance or friend asks, “How’s life these days?” Without even thinking, you respond, “Same ole, same ole.” They might reply, “I know you attend a great church.” “That’s also the same ole—three songs, a prayer, the offering, and another boring sermon.” The first step out of such a rut is admitting it to yourself and telling God exactly how you feel. I’ve heard people say, “Why try? My prayers don’t get beyond the ceiling”. That’s the first lie Satan tells you. God is not up there above the ceiling. He is in the room with you; in fact, the Holy Spirit is there in your heart even when you don’t ‘feel’ His presence. The second step is to examine how you arrived at this place.
All of us start life, especially as adults striving to find your comfort zone. Normally, people will reach a point when they have their basic needs met. They live in an adequate home that provides shelter from heat, cold, and rain. They have plenty of food, nice clothes to wear, have people to love them, and they have gained esteem from co-workers and neighbors. Some will have grown children with children of their own—your grandchildren. You have all your needs met to enjoy comfort, but you are miserable. Even worse is when you fall into a spiritual comfort zone. I experienced this after I completed my graduate work and was pastoring in a great church. I worshipped God daily and continued learning the Word. I was comfortable having everything I ever desired, but miserable at the same time. I asked the Lord what I was doing wrong. His answer was simple. “You have stopped growing spiritually. You compare yourself with the two most spiritual people you know—your home pastor and a former professor who both have been mentors. Great men, but they can never be the benchmark of maturity. Jesus is the standard for which you must strive.” Since that day I’ve looked at Jesus in Scripture and then looked at myself, I felt like Isaiah, Woe is me (6:5).
The events of the past year with quarantines, isolation to your house, unable to attend church or normal events have certainly pushed people toward a different life-style which can rapidly become, same ole, same ole. One thing that never changes about the future is it doesn’t remain static. It is always changing. Life as we have known it will never be the way it was. What we like and things we do change in every season of life. Even though our future may look hopeless God is with us. We are never ‘just living’. He has a plan for us but in His time table. God never abandoned Abraham and Sarah. But they became tired of ‘just living’ and got ahead of His schedule instead of living where He put them.
Sustaining Word for the Week: If you feel like life is ‘same ole, same ole’, ask God to show you the blessings you have and that you still have a purpose. If you feel you are ‘just living’ be assured He preparing you for all that’s ahead.