August 18, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ‘As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Father [Abram]; your name will be Father of many [Abraham], for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful. I will make nations of you. Kings will come from you.’” (Genesis 17.3-6)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

What is the benefit of patience? My mother always said it built character. Many of us have heard the adage, derived from Christian teaching on patience as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, “Patience is a virtue.” There are benefits to having patience and being patient. Experience has taught us all that patience is no easy task on our own. It is a good thing that authentic patience is a gift from God. God is certainly patient or else we might not even exist today because those who have preceded us may not have existed because those who preceded them, so forth and so on until we get to Adam and Eve. God’s extension of mercy and grace to them allowed there to be future generations. Could God have simply eliminated Adam and Eve and started over again? Could God have just called a “mulligan” and played another shot? Perhaps He could have. We know in the days of Noah, God lamented ever creating humankind. Would creation have been as wonderful if God had not created humankind? We would never know because we would not exist to consider it! So, because of God’s grace, mercy, love and patience as well as a personal sacrifice, we do exist. We live in the midst of chaos. It is a chaos of our own making because we feel powerless to overcome it. Even though Jesus says to us through what He said to the disciples, “In this world you will have trouble, but don’t be afraid because I have overcome the world,” we can certainly entertain the idea of having the power to overcome the chaos; do we? Do we lose our patience with ourselves, others and even God? Yes, we do. Imagine the examples of such conflict in the story of Lazarus dying and then being raised from the dead. It could not happen and would not happen unless Jesus urged the disciples to abide with Him patiently. Such encouragement was not sent ahead to Mary and Martha, however. Their faith could have made him well, but should it? What of their prayers for his healing and restoration? Seeing their own desperation, they called out to Jesus to intervene in what they desired for themselves without seeing what God had intended to do. Jesus declared as He stood before the tomb where Lazarus had been four days already and spoke the truth, “Father, I thank You that you have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me.” (John 11.41b-42) It was a lesson in patience preparing them all for what was about to happen. I am not speaking of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. I am speaking, of course, of the resurrection of Jesus. And still, even with that, who among them practiced the virtue of patience trusting God to do what He said He would do prophetically hundreds of years previous?

There is a tremendous benefit to having authentic patience. Perseverance and endurance does build character, as my mother said. So, too, does obedience and trust establish a future fulfillment of who we are as God has said. From the very first blessing over humankind when God said “Good and very good,” His covenant of reconciliation and fulfillment existed prophetically. His blessing is never on the past. His blessing is always for the future. We may think it is for today but, mighty ones of God, today is but a fraction of a moment between the past and the future. God is always moving forward and so should we. That is the story of Abram we enter into today. God speaks to him for the future and the deliverance from his past. He announces that He has made Abram a father of many nations before it has even happened. Abram knows he cannot return again to Hagar to produce more children and thus nations. Now he is confronted to bear patiently for what only God can do. God made a covenant with Abram that this is what He will do. The giving of a son to Abram and Sarai will be the sign of the future and the consecration of God’s covenant with Abram. Abram, however, is going to have to endure something more in order to effect the blessing which patience will bear for him and through him to all generations. It is easy to leave it all to God without putting, as they say, “skin in the game.” That is not the way of the kingdom life and righteousness. God makes sacrifices for us. We must make sacrifices for us as well.

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness endeavor, but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.