While we may know the...
Illustration
While we may know the rest of this story because we have read it before, this segment of scripture leaves us hanging as open-mouthed as the eavesdropping Sarah. If we were to rush to the end of the story without examining and possibly savoring this earlier segment, we might miss an important lesson.
Was this pause an invitation to look at the variety of manners in which God comes to us? Or Abraham's ordering the preparation of the finest of meals? Was God's repayment the gem in the story we would overlook if we jumped to Abraham and Sarah's laughing response?
Our lives are filled with emotional cliff-hangers that tease our curiosity. Yet how strange it is when circumstances abruptly pause us as if to say --your life will be continued later --when we want to rush to a conclusion. We want to know the entire story before properly digesting its parts.
Before a job-searching friend received a "Dear John" letter from a perspective employer, she thought the position was certain and already had begun rearranging her life. The refusal jarred her. With plans suddenly halted, her instinct was to rush toward her original goal of finding another job. However, a deeper instinct beckoned her to slow down and rethink her life direction. She wondered what she was being invited to look at. After further exploration, she gained a fuller understanding of fulfillment and altered her career.
--Brauninger
Was this pause an invitation to look at the variety of manners in which God comes to us? Or Abraham's ordering the preparation of the finest of meals? Was God's repayment the gem in the story we would overlook if we jumped to Abraham and Sarah's laughing response?
Our lives are filled with emotional cliff-hangers that tease our curiosity. Yet how strange it is when circumstances abruptly pause us as if to say --your life will be continued later --when we want to rush to a conclusion. We want to know the entire story before properly digesting its parts.
Before a job-searching friend received a "Dear John" letter from a perspective employer, she thought the position was certain and already had begun rearranging her life. The refusal jarred her. With plans suddenly halted, her instinct was to rush toward her original goal of finding another job. However, a deeper instinct beckoned her to slow down and rethink her life direction. She wondered what she was being invited to look at. After further exploration, she gained a fuller understanding of fulfillment and altered her career.
--Brauninger
