As I was following my daily plan to read through the Bible this year, I read a verse that immediately caught my attention.
Genesis 24:1 says: Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.
If I had come across this verse without first reading the previous chapter, it probably wouldn’t have stood out to me. However, having just completed Genesis 23, the account of Abraham’s life didn’t strike me as especially blessed.
Why?
Abraham was mourning Sarah’s death. In addition, although God had promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan through the line of his son Issac, that promise was still unfulfilled.
So, I asked, “How is that being blessed in every way?”
When Sarah passed away, Abraham was still living as a foreigner in Canaan, and his son Isaac was 37 years old and had not yet married. Sadly, Sarah would never have the chance to see her grandchildren from Isaac. Faced with the loss, Abraham approached the Hittites, humbly requesting a place to bury his wife. The Hittites agreed to let him purchase a cave for her burial.
Then this thought occurred to me: The burial place of Abraham’s wife was the first piece of land he possessed in Canaan. When Abraham was given the promise fifty years before, he could not have known that his ownership of land would begin only with his wife’s death.
As I reflect on Abraham and Sarah’s journey, the fulfillment of God’s promise for land and descendants feels as gradual as trying to coax thick, crystallized honey from its jar into my tea—painstakingly slow, requiring patience, and not always obvious in the moment.
For humans, waiting can feel like forever, but according to Genesis 24:1, God’s plan was unfolding just fine, as God sees the bigger picture.
If your situation is like Abraham’s, you are still waiting for something you have long wanted.
Are you waiting to meet the special person you want to marry?
Or in my case, are you waiting for grandchildren to spend time with?
Are you hoping for the chemo to kill your cancer?
Are you yearning to buy a house someday, but in today’s economy, that seems impossible?
What is your promised land that is yet unfulfilled?
When I was younger, I assumed there would be a picture on my fireplace mantle by the time I was ready for retirement, with me surrounded by my husband, my children, and their children. All with happy faces – and maybe an ocean sunset in the background.
As I approach retirement without having experienced this kind of journey, I feel a vital piece of my puzzle is missing, leaving me feeling incomplete.
We all have ideas about what we think our lives should look like. And then we associate the fulfillment of those desires with having God’s favor. I had to remind myself that Abraham was greatly favored by God, but that did not shield him from hardship nor from needing to wait for the promise that was his to be fulfilled.
As I contemplate Abraham’s life, I gain a new perspective on Genesis 24:1. I conclude that his faith was “the” blessing because it kept him in communion with God.
Despite all the highs and lows Abraham faced while waiting for the promise to come true, his faith in God never wavered. Even when life was difficult, and his circumstances didn’t seem to match what had been promised, he held firmly to the belief that God’s word was trustworthy.
Living by faith grounded Abraham in God’s favor because he knew the One who is almighty, true, and faithful. So, no matter how hard it got through the years, he kept believing, and God kept showing up.
And then I realized I have faith in God and really enjoy my relationship with Him. And when I look back during the lowest times of my life, I, too, have believed in the One who is almighty, true, and faithful. And I also have seen God keep showing up in my life in many ways.
But I have allowed myself to look at the missing puzzle piece in my picture. But that picture is filled with my expectations of what my life should look like. If I were to look at the bigger picture God is creating for me, that missing piece would not be there because so many other blessings would be in its place.
It may be that Abraham’s experiences of abundance and hardship, of waiting and fulfillment, and of life and death, continually connected him with God; this ongoing relationship is what brings true wholeness to everything. Even the pain. Even the loss. He could still say, “I am blessed in every way.”
Maybe Abraham is the kind of guy who would say, “The best stage of my life is the one God is actively shaping for me right now.”
After reading Genesis 23 and 24, I thought it would be a good idea to replace Abraham’s name in the verse with mine and I said out loud, “Diane is now very old (not quite as old as Abraham was, but I’m getting up there), and the Lord has blessed her in every way.”
And you know what? That is the absolute truth.
