“The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, ‘Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.’ So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD” (Genesis 13:14-18, ESV).
There was a great surprise that happened in my life just before my birthday! A letter from Malacan¯ang Palace, from the Office of the President was delivered to me. So excited to read the letter. It was prepared by the Executive Secretary.
Really I read the letter repeatedly. Even now, I could still read it with excitement. The message is really valuable to me. But, in our time, there is a message for each one us that is more valuable. It came from the Office of the Sovereign King of the Universe. We could find the message in the pages of the Bible.
Some men would try to discredit it. But, not only titans of Christian faith have regarded it highly. Men who occupied respected or important position in the world displayed their firm belief in it. Among them: Blaise Pascal, the French physicist, mathematician, philosopher (1623-1662); Robert Boyle (1627-1691), Irish chemist, best known for Boyle’s law; Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), French military and political leader; Benjamin Franklin, statesman, inventor, printer, and scientist who discovered electricity.
The first President of the United States, George Washington said: “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” Abraham Lincoln believed that “the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to men. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book.”
And if the message of the book is really for you, it’s a display of God’s grace in your life, especially if you are experiencing pain. Realize that grace is not only physical favor we received. It’s God’s favor that we do not deserve -- physical or spiritual, even a favorable way or ability.
Today, we will dwell on our topic, EXPERIENCE GOD’S GRACE IN PAIN, as we focus on our text (Gen. 13:14-18).
What could happen, if the Sovereign God extends His grace to someone? Or, what would you do, if the Supremely Good God works favorably in your life, even when you are pain?
As we studied the first twelve verses of Genesis 13, we found out some of the choices of Abraham. And like him, we could also make, not only right choices but choices in harmony with the Will of the Sovereign God.
What were the choices of Abraham?
First, he had chosen to value God. Second, he chose to favor others. And third, he chose to have faith.
Now, in our present text (vv. 14-18), aside from making right or godly choices, we will also learn further at least three things that we can do.
And you can only do them, if the Sovereign God extends His favor to you, or His grace is in your life. So, what are those things?
First, you would be…
I – ASPIRING FOR WHAT GOD CONVEYS (vv. 14-15).
We read verses 14-15, “The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, ‘Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.’”
Could you imagine the posture – his “emotional posture” -- of Abraham, before he heard the words of God?
He was in great emotional pain. Perhaps, his head was drooping in sadness. It was not easy for him to be separated from Lot. Since Abraham until that time had no child, his nephew, Lot, could have filled that vacuum in his heart.
When God instructed Abraham to go to the promised land, he brought Lot with him. And now that it was necessary for them to be separated to give space for their possessions and avoid strife among their servants, Abraham could truly feel the pain of separation. But as Lot pursued what he coveted -- the attractive place that he saw, Abraham was left with what God could convey to him.
And as if God was saying to him, “Focus, desire, aspire for what I could give you. I could give you greater favors. And I could even give you many children!”
People could suffer various pain of separation, or from losing something or someone of value.
The earliest memory that I could remember of losing something was the time that my parents decided to change our residence. We would leave our house located near the river where I enjoyed so much. It was painful for me to be separated from that place. And my mother would try to comfort me that our new location would be a better one.
When I was in the early high school years, the tragedy of being separated from my pet cat was really painful. From being a kitten, she grew up and until she died, she was inside my room. Maybe, there were tears when we were separated, as I buried her.
But certainly I could remember that I cried, when I lost my father and then my mother as they died.
I could enumerate many more instances when I suffered the pain of being separated from or losing something or someone I valued.
Believers or lovers of Jesus, have you experienced the pain of being separated from something or someone?
Or, are you now experiencing that pain right now?
If you are, or if you will suffer later, you could rehearse in your mind the words of God to Abraham: “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, …”
Remove your eyes from what your heart could covet. Aspire for what the Sovereign God could convey or give.
Besides, Paul wrote the Christians in Corinth: “What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty’" (2 Cor. 6:16-18).
We need to separate ourselves from anything or anyone that we could idolize. It could be a person, a habit, a place, or whatever consumes more of our time or interest. Rather, we need to aspire to become holy, obedient children of the Almighty God.
If you experience the grace of God, what else would you be doing? You would be…
II – ACTING ON WHAT GOD COMMANDS (v. 17).
We read verse 17, “Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”
This could be a “symbolic legal rite by which one staked claim to real estate.” Actually, God instructed Abraham to do something. He commanded him to explore what He wanted to give. He told Abraham that his faith should not remain just as a desire for something, but he should act in order to experience it.
When God commanded Abraham, “Arise…” He obeyed. We read in the initial part of verse 18, “So Abram moved his tent…”
Before the death of Moses, God told Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:23, “And the LORD commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, ‘Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.’"
After the death of Moses, note what God commanded Joshua in Joshua 1:2, “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.”
As Joshua looked forward that he would bring the people into the promised land. That God would be with him. Now, God commanded him to do something. “… arise, go over this Jordan…”
Believers or lovers of Jesus, is there any word of God for you to do something?
God’s command to Abraham, “Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”
His command to Joshua, “arise, go over this Jordan”!
Is there any God’s Word of command for you? “Arise…” Act. Perform. Execute. Obey. Work or act out that you are saved from the eternal penalty of hell-fire. Behave that you are holy, obedient children of the Holy God.
We could not just desire to love the Heavenly Father and live in grieving Him with our sins, grieving him with indifference, grieving Him with our laziness. We could not just desire to go to His Heavenly Kingdom and do not go over our sinful habits, do not go over our fears, do not go over our hatred, do not go over our envies, do not go over our pride.
For when God would give us a godly desire, He would also give us the grace to act on what He pleases. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).
If you experience the grace of God, what else would you be doing? You would be…
III – ADORING GOD AS PRIME CONCERN (v. 18).
We read verse 18, “So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.”
After Abraham obeyed the instruction of God, after he came and settled at a certain place, what was the first thing he did?
We read in the last portion of the verse, “…there he built an altar to the LORD.”
After his accomplishment of walking “… through the length and the breadth of the land,” the first thing that came into his mind was to adore, honor, pray, or even worship God.
So, what he did was to “built an altar to the LORD.”
Now, that he could settle down, he could have rewarded himself by building his own house. He could have thought and acted to make himself more comfortable. But his priority was to acknowledge and adore the Giver of grace. Truly, great was the gift that he received. But the prime concern of Abraham was the Goodness of the Giver.
Let’s remember again what Noah did after he and his family went out from the ark. After the great flood, everything was destroyed on the earth. Only Noah, his family and the animals inside the ark survived.
Noah realized that it was time to begin anew. But the ark builder, instead of building first where he and his family could dwell, what he built was an altar to the Lord. And he gave an offering of thanksgiving.
His prime concern was to adore, honor and worship the One, who granted him and his family the grace to be saved from the flood.
Noah could realize then that he owned the whole earth by that time. However, did he give himself an adulation for the vastness of his territory? What he did was to display his adoration to God for the greatness of His grace.
Believers or lovers of Jesus, what do you do first when you acquire or accomplish something, especially of great worth? What comes into your mind when you received a favor that others do not enjoy?
Do you make an effort first to honor, thank God and adore Him by prayer and reading His Word? Or, preparing first an offering to Him?
While you are in pain, God may not promise you a big tract of land or many offspring, like what He promised to Abraham. But you can look upward in the heaven and imagine the many planets there and He promised in His Word that we will reign with Christ and in Psalm 8, we will have the authority to rule over the works of God – all things! We will judge or rule over angels.
As inheritors of the Gracious God, we could not fully comprehend now the riches of God’s grace that we would enjoy for eternity. But at least we could already adore Him for the favor we that could now enjoy and understand.
As He gives us 24 hours daily, could we adore Him first in prayer and meditation of His Word before we use the remaining part of the hours for ourselves?
As He gives whatever talent or skill we have, could we allocate it first for His Church?
As He gives us financial income, could we budget first what is suppose to belong to Him?
As He gives us physical strength, could we use it first for the Work of God?
And as Christ gave His life for us, should we not adore Him by loving Him more than anything or anyone else?
Whether we are in pain or not, because of His grace, God can make a way in order for us to adore or worship Him.
CONCLUSION:
Before we finally end, may I also say that it was God’s grace that the former Philippine President directed his Executive Secretary to acknowledge what I sent to him.
Never I expected that he would reply. My aim was just for the former President to receive the book Trusting God with my letter. In one part of the letter, I stated that the portion in the book, which says, “God never wastes pain” greatly helped me, as I suffered emotional pain. Also, I stated that the book encouraged me to read more Christians books, especially about the attributes of God. And it fueled my heart to read the Bible repeatedly.
Because of God’s grace, our heart could also be fueled to aspire for what God conveys, to act on His commands and to adore Him, as your prime concern.
