God of Might
Read: Genesis 17:1-8
"I am God Almighty." (v. 1)
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick," says the book of Proverbs (13:12). Perhaps that was how Abraham felt when at the age of 99 he heard repeated yet again God's promises about the family and the land that were to be his. As he saw it, there was no possibility now of a child for him and Sarah. Ishmael, the son Hagar had borne him 13 years before, would have to be his heir.
But at this point he learned that he was dealing with El Shaddai, God Almighty, the God of the impossible. And that meant that Sarah would indeed bear him a son, though they were both so old and she was in any case barren. And El Shaddai was about to do a miracle even more far-reaching than that, both for them and in them.
The chapter as a whole explains how they themselves were changed as their God bound them to him by covenant. This was the relationship signaled by their new names (for though we have all along been calling them Abraham and Sarah, up to now Scripture has referred to them as Abram and Sarai). Here is a God who does greater things at deeper levels than we often give him credit for.
Prayer: I do expect great things from you, Lord, but thank you for the much greater things you have in store.
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