Turning Up Your Audio II

INVITATION – You are warmly invited to join us by LIKING, FOLLOWING, SHARING and COMMENTING. I always respond to all my comments.

Gen 17:17  Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? Gen 18:11  Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Gen 18:12  Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? 

Her husband rushed off suddenly. He returned shortly with three elegant, respectable-looking gentlemen. He was practically falling over his feet to make them comfortable. ‘That’s my husband for you!’ she mumbled to herself as she kneaded dough and supervised her maids. Presently, her husband, Abraham, rushed in with instructions to prepare a quick meal. He later came in with a young calf, already dressed. Together with the other meal, he presented it to his visitors. While Abraham’s visitors ate, he respectfully stood by them.

The events proceed rapidly. They finish eating and start talking with him. Only then does he realise he had invited his Creator, the One who brought him out of his home in Ur of the Chaldea! Once again, God reiterates his promise to Abraham that He will give him an heir. Earlier (Genesis 17:17), God repeated His commitment to providing them with a child. Abraham had laughed in his heart, then tried to shift attention to their maid’s son and requested a blessing for him. But God insisted that his wife, Sarah, would have a son. So, this time, he knew better than to laugh or disbelieve.

So, this time, it is rather Sarah who laughed. She was standing in the tent door behind Abraham, so she heard that she would suckle a boy in about a year. Like her husband, she considered their ages and that she had even passed menopause. Both heard God’s promise to make good His promise of a child. Both laughed within themselves.

Even the Father of the Faithful (FoF) almost didn’t believe. Even the friend of God Himself almost scoffed. Even the Mother of Many (MoM) nations almost rejected her blessing. Abraham, Father of the Faithful, heard God reiterate His promise and thought about something/else. FoF did not have enough faith to hang on to a repeated promise. And MoM could not learn from her husband’s faith in God. Even strong children of God can entirely miss the point even when they heard it from God Himself.

No wonder we, today, which can only hear from the Bible or the Holy Spirit, go into all kinds of modes when we hear the plain word of God. But God responds to those who take His word and obey, no matter how daunting, tiring, boring, silly, annoying, etc.

Some 30+ years ago, I had gotten into tough times. College had ground to a halt with no help from friends or relatives. My business had collapsed due to bad debt, and I owed my kind benefactress. I spent my dawns at a favourite spot on the outskirts of town, seeking God. One morning, He spoke to me, “I do not need people’s promises to pay your fees; I am the Lord.” After this communication, I went home and went about my duties. Dr Michee Bade, then about as young as I was, had opted to spend his holidays at my flat. One day, he suggested that I take God at His word and go to campus. God provided one opportunity after another until I finished university. Listening to God is one thing. Hearing what He tells you is what will change your destiny. Hearing and obeying is what will truly show that you are His child. Check out the following texts:

• Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
• Genesis 22:3 And Abraham rose up… and went unto the place of which God had told him. 
• Numbers 17:11 And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.
• Genesis 7:5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
• John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Learn to take God at His word. Do as He tells you. Do it to the best of your ability. Precisely as He showed you, bear in mind that God does not sin and will not ask you to sin. Turn up your audio and be attentive. He returns soon to take those who listened and obeyed. 

“Tune It Into God, Turn It Up And Rip Off The Knob!”