He Calls Things That Are Not As Though They Were

Romans 4:7

As it is written, “ I have made you (Abraham) a father of many nations.”  He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

Abraham was really old.  He’d been married to Sarah for many, many years. She never conceived.  

He had taken his destiny into his own hands, at one point, and gotten himself a son through Hagar, Sarah’s maid.

So, how can it be said that his faith was credited as righteousness?  

Because, God, in his grace, didn’t snatch his blessing away because of Abraham’s sin.  God remained faithful even after Abraham’s faith failed him!

God pointed out Abraham’s failure, but he didn’t hold it against him, and , when God told him Sarah would still be a mother, despite his sin, he believed him!

“…and calls things that are not as though they were.”  Calling is a creative act for God.  It’s not calling a chair a chair because it is one.  It’s calling things into existence, which only God can do.

Abraham knew that nothing is called into existence by the word of man.  But he knew that God was the Creator, and that the Word he called into existence was a New Word.

Because he forgave Abraham, a whole nation, a whole people group were called into existence that hadn’t been there before.  Because God forgave him, he  became the “father”  of the Messiah!

A new thing!  Something that was not, but then was. (Moses and the law)  Something that was not and now is! (the New Covenant)

Before Isaac was conceived, Abraham blew it.  He fathered a son that was outside the promise.  And the consequences have certainly been far reaching.

But God is even using that to  bring his kingdom to earth.  it is part of the tapestry.  It is part of the beauty of his plan.  

The Perfect Pattern

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Last night I dreamed about sewing patterns.  I was making piles of the tissue pieces and trying to sort them out.

Sorting out the patterns of the this world, trying to figure them out, looking at them from different angles, trying to make sense out of them, to make them fit, can be an exhausting, lifetime endeavor!

Trying to conform to this world; to figure out how things that happened in my past fit together with what’s happening now and what it will mean for my future, not to mention how it fits together with what’s happening around the world, is like trying to sew together a crazy quilt when the pieces won’t come together, no matter how hard I try.

But, if every day, I focus on the good, pleasing and perfect will of God for my life, then my life, looking back, will seem like a woven fabric, every line perfectly blending with the one before it and the one after it.  It’s a tapestry that was begun the day I first surrendered to Him and will never be completed.

Even the somber, heavy hues of suffering add exquisite beauty to the piece of art my God is making out of my life.

It is cohesive.  It is breathtaking.  It is a perfect pattern.