Faith — The Shortcut - Monday
TODAY’S VERSE
Genesis 16:2
And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. (ESV)
Without a careful reading of this story in light of the fifteen chapters that come prior, it can be really easy to miss the connections made here.
In Hebrew, the phrase translated as “Abram listened to the voice of Sarai” is only used one other time in the entirety of the Old Testament. Any guesses? If you’re thinking Genesis 3, you absolutely nailed it.
Genesis 3:17 reads as follows: And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘you shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.”
The repetition of this phrase is meant to draw our minds back to the Garden of Eden as a reminder of what happens when we ignore God’s instructions and choose to listen to any voice other than His.
And we may never be more vulnerable to listening to other voices than when we are waiting on God. If you are in a season of waiting, don’t confuse His silence for His absence. Don’t confuse His delay for His denial. And don’t listen to any voices who try to convince you otherwise.
The prophet Isaiah famously wrote, “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4 ESV).
You may be in a season of waiting, but your Father in Heaven is always in a season of working. It’s our job to trust Him and wait.
APPLICATION
One of the greatest ways to fight the temptation of listening to what others are saying is to cling to what God has already said.
If you are currently in a season of waiting and/or silence, choose to fight against the temptation of listening to outside voices by picking a verse or passage of Scripture to commit to memory. If quoting Scripture from memory was Jesus’ preferred tactic for deflecting the temptations of our adversary (see Matthew 4), we’d be well suited to try it ourselves.
PRAYER
Father, forgive us for our quickness to not only listen to but also adhere to voices less than Yours. Out of Your mercy, would You give us the discernment necessary to see the temptations of today for what they are and be reminded of Your everlasting truth.