Trigger Warning: Infertility; Sexual Assault
Read Genesis 12
The darkness continues. The descendant of Eve who will bring an end to the darkness has not yet appeared. And then, a glimmer of light. Abram receives a spectacular promise from God (v2-3). He will be made into a great nation, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through him.
It’s through this guy’s line that the promised serpent crusher will come. The defeater of all evil. The one who can bring salvation from the darkness that lives outside and within each one of us.
But it makes no sense! Abram and his wife Sarai have no children and now Sarai is long past child bearing age. They have lived with the pain of infertility for many years. How can the Saviour of the world come through this man’s family line? It cannot be possible, and perhaps it feels like a cruel reminder of a loss long grieved. And yet this is the promise he receives.
Do any of God’s promises to you seem impossible in the darkness?
‘I will never leave you or forsake you’ Matt 28.20
But you seem silent when I really need to hear you
‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ Romans 15.13
Well, I don’t feel in the slightest bit hopeful. Is this one a kind of abstract promise?
‘the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’
My head is a carousel of anxiety, but sure, whatever.
It’s easy to get weary waiting for the outworking of a promise. It’s hard. Abram found it hard too. Because the first thing we read after his thanksgiving for God’s amazing promise is his drastic detour into darkness.
There is famine in the land, and Abram’s first action is to take matters into his own hands and head for Egypt. With no concern for wife Sarai, he passes her off as his sister to save his own skin, fearing that her beauty will lead to the loss of his own life if he admits she is his wife (v12-13). Sarai is subsequently taken in marriage by the Pharaoh. As a woman in this society, she would not have the power to refuse this union or its consummation. Abram’s desire to save his own skin led to a grotesque and deliberate omission to protect his bride.
In the midst of this darkness, it is easy to assume that the God of the Bible is cruel. The historical recording of Abram’s behaviour, however, is not an endorsement of his actions by the Almighty. Abram bears full responsibility for their descent into the darkness. But when Abram fails in his duty to Sarai, God is not silent. He does not leave Sarai to suffer the consequences of her husband’s actions. Instead, he inflicts disease on Pharoah which is immediately seen as a sign of judgement for taking another man’s wife, and Sarai is returned to Abram (v17). Here the glimmer of light which God sends – disease – is not pretty, but his care for Sarai is not restricted to polite methods. He’ll do whatever it takes to secure her release from this situation.
But Sarai is still childless. God repeats his promise that the serpent crushing descendant of Eve who will save humanity will come from Abram’s line, but there is no sign of it becoming reality. Abram and Sarai must continue daily, clutching to the glimmer of the light in the darkness that they once saw.
Reflect
Are there promises of God which feel impossible to you just now?
Do you relate to Abram and Sarai’s struggle to hold on to a past promise?
Are there times in your life when harsh circumstances have brought about an unexpectedly positive resolution?
Susie lives in NE Fife and works in ministry. She loves being with friends, feeding people and half finished creative projects.
