this . At the ripe age of ninety-nine , Abram faces another fork in the road . Twenty-four years after the initial blessing and covenant , Abram returns to God broken , bruised , and battered from trying to live life his own way . Yet , God ’ s affirming tone immediately makes itself evident : “ Walk before me faithfully and be blameless . Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers .”
In other words , he ’ s saying , “ It ’ s a new day , Abram . I ’ m about to take the initiative for you . At one hundred years old , with your body , ‘ as good as dead ,’ I will fulfill the promise through you . In fact , this is a new beginning for you . I ’ m changing your name ! You ’ ll now be called Abraham , which means , ‘ father of many nations .’” And then , God , with a strike of déjà vu , repeats the blessing from Genesis 12 almost verbatim , but with a stronger emphasis on the influence Abraham will have (“ kings will come from you ”).
Are you stunned yet ?
God then reaffirms this covenant with Abraham , only this time , he asks Abraham to put a little skin in the game ( I ’ m sorry , I had to ). He tells Abraham that the physical sign of this covenant will be the procedure of circumcision , to serve as a constant reminder of the promise they both were committed to keeping .
It keeps getting better ( and don ’ t worry , the gross part is over ). Genesis 17:15-16 says , “ God also said to Abraham , ‘ As for Sarai your wife , you are no longer to call her Sarai ; her name will be Sarah . I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her . I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations ; kings of peoples will come from her .’”
God redeems and renames Sarah , too , extending to her the same extralavish blessing ( mother of nations , kings of peoples will come from her ). And how did Abraham respond ?
Abraham fell facedown ; he laughed and said to himself , “ Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old ? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety ?” And Abraham said to God , “ If only Ishmael might live under your blessing !”
Do you see Abraham still trying to control the narrative ? “ This is crazy , God ! A son ? I ’ m one hundred years old ! I can ’ t have a son with Sarah . Can ’ t we just give the blessing to Ishmael ?” But that ’ s not the trail God had called Abraham to blaze . He tasked Abraham with becoming the father of God ’ s chosen people , who could come only through him and Sarah .
Maybe you feel as though the dream God has placed on your heart is too crazy . Perhaps you ’ ve tried to bargain with God or simply make the dream come true by your own strength . Maybe you ’ ve even tried to enter into an exchange agreement : “ I ’ ll give you this , God , if you don ’ t make me do this .”
Whatever the case , what if God is gently asking you to stop and to fully surrender ? To
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