Faithful to Remember.

To say that I was startled would probably be a bit of an understatement.
I don’t know how I never knew this bit of information.
And I don’t know what is more startling, the fact that this exists or the fact that I have failed to tell you about it yet.
You are probably more startled that I haven’t blabbed to you about it yet. Because we all know I know how to blab to you.

Did you know that when you stand on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and look towards the Old City that there is nothing between you and the temple but….graves?

Yeah. No joke.

And when you are walking down from the Mount, what is on the other side of all the walls?
Graves.

Tombs, if you will.
One right on the top of the other, they just keep going. Grave after grave after white grave.

How did I not know this? I feel like I have been a Christian a long enough time that I should know. I feel like I have seen a lot of pictures of Jerusalem in my day.

But, alas, I didn’t.

Our tour guide (who was amazing, btw. If you are ever going to Israel, or planning a tour for a group, message me. You have GOT to have this guy) made a passing comment about how you can tell a lot about a culture by their cemeteries.

Typical lifespan.

Populations.
Wars in the culture.
Lifestyle.

And as I was looking around at all of these graves—Jewish graves—(there is only a small section of Christian graves and Muslim graves) the thought occurred to me, “In this case you can tell a lot about their God, too.”

No doubt my mind was teeming with things I learned from my one year at Bible college. My Old Testament history professor would be so happy to know I have retained information after all these years.

But about their God?

Yes.

See, long ago there was a man. And his name was named Abram. And Abram was old. And Abram’s wife was old. And Abram and his wife didn’t have any children. And Abram and his wife weren’t going to be having any children (I feel like we all forget the road these two were currently walking when we meet up with them in the story) because they were old—I already told you that.

But one day God spoke to Abram and said something along the lines of, “Leave your home; go away from where you are and from what you are used to. I will show you where you need to be, and I will make your name great; you will be a blessing.”
Like any good man, he did what God told him to do.

And one day they came to this land and God said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” (Genesis 12:7).

But, remember: there was no offspring.

So time passes.

Conflicts come like any life.
Relationships get restored like sometimes in life.
But no baby makes an appearance.
And the years keep rolling on.

 An old, childless couple when the story starts, Abram and his wife are older still. Childless like before.

Then one day God spoke to him again telling Abram that he is a Protector, and that his reward will be very great (Gen. 15:1).

But Abram remembered something. Didn’t God at one time…years ago…say something about some piece of land belonging to…some offspring?

But, remember: there was no offspring.

And, remember: they are old.
Which does not bode well in the children department.

So Abram says to the Lord one day, “Umm….Lord….I don’t know if you are aware, but….ummmm….we still don’t have any children. There is just this nephew who will inherit the land.”

And what does God say to him?

“This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”

But, remember: there was no son. There still was no son. There had never been a son, it doesn’t seem possible that there will ever be a son. There is no son.

If you are like me you will find yourself at this part of the story saying in a bit of an impatient, irritated tone, as life just seems to be continuing on for this old couple, “BUT WHERE IS THIS SON YOU KEEP SPEAKING OF?!?!!?”

Trust me, they did too. They had to have.

It’s human nature. We are an impatient people because we are not a people of limitless time.
So when God says something is going to happen we usually nod our heads up and down and go “Yes, great, where do I sign? See you Monday morning.”

But no paper work shows up to sign.

And Monday comes and goes and time passes and conflicts come and relationships get ruined and sometimes they restored and life happens and still no papers show up to sign and another Monday goes by the wayside.

Have you ever felt that way? Like something isn’t adding up? Like there is another end of a bargain still needing to be held up and it’s not yours?

And we keep asking figuratively, “Where is the son?”

Back to the story. On a clear night God takes Abram outside and shows him the vast multitude of stars.
I assume it was something like this.

 

And God makes a bold promise: “Look to the heavens and number them, if you are able to number them…So shall your offspring be.” (Gen 15:5)

And life continued to happen for childless Abram and his wife.

But then they tried to manipulate the situation.
And they pushed their way and they didn’t wait.
And they made stupid mistakes.
And I would think that the promise would be void at this point because I do those same kinds of things and always feel like God’s promises should be rendered void unto me.

Yet, in spite of all of that I have to remember: God is not like me. And one night God showed Abram the stars, and that night God gave him a promise.

Wolfies, if there is one thing I have to say to you it is this: God is faithful to remember his promises.

Of this I am a witness.

Because one day this summer I stood on the Mount of Olives and all I could see, piled one right on top of the other, was God’s remembered promises.

More than I could count.

More than my eyes could take in.

Probably more than any human knows.

Shining a blinding white in the sun the way a star shines in darkness.

But, I am guessing, that like how he knows the unknowable number of stars in the sky, God knows the number of times he remembered his promise to Abram.

He knows the name registry of that cemetery the same way he calls each star by name.

Because God is faithful. He does not make promises he won’t keep. He does not hear prayers and not answer them-not always in ways we want, but he answers in the way that is best. He does not forget our plot in life, he knows all his plans for our life, he knows how he started us and he knows how he will bring us to a beautiful finish.

Because he is faithful.

He can be taken at his word.

See, a long time ago there was a man named Abram. And Abram and his wife were old and they had no babies.

But one day God said, “Some day I will give you a baby.”

And one day God was faithful to his promise.

And then, true to his character, he kept being faithful…