Answered prayer – not?

My friend was praying for a new car. He was involved in itinerant ministry and clocking up many miles. His car was failing fast but he didn’t have the finances to buy another.

One day after church, a member of the congregation said, ‘We are changing our car and we’d like you to have our current one. It’s three years old and has only done 15,000 miles.’ My friend was flabbergasted at such an amazing answer to prayer. A few months later, I asked him how he was enjoying his new car. He rolled his eyes and sighed: ‘It’s spent more time in the garage than on the road. It’s the worst car I’ve ever had!’

Perhaps you have had a similar experience. You thought God had answered your prayers. You’d been obedient and expected His blessing to follow. But instead, you’ve experienced disappointment, heartache and begun to question God’s plans and promises.

You are not the first. In Genesis 12, God had given Abraham a spectacular promise: ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.’ Abraham was promised blessing, land and descendants. Despite the magnitude of the promise and the sacrifice of leaving all that was familiar, there is no sense that Abraham questioned God. He trusted God’s faithfulness and simply obeyed. Even when he arrived and found Canaanites living in the land, Abraham was undeterred. He walked the length of the land and built altars claiming the territory for God. If ever there was someone living in the bullseye of God’s will it was Abraham.

However, when famine hit (Gen.12:10), God’s promises seemed to turn sour. Instead of finding a land flowing with milk and honey, Abraham faced destitution. God’s faithfulness suddenly came under scrutiny. How did Abraham respond? He went into survival mode and fled to Egypt. His actions were understandable in human terms – he was taking responsibility and looking after his family. But, in doing so, he was giving up on God’s promises. He abandoned the land God had given him. He pretended his wife Sarah was his sister, thereby allowing Pharaoh to take her into his palace and putting in jeopardy the whole plan for Abraham’s descendants to become a great nation.

When God didn’t act as Abraham had expected, when a place of blessing turned out to be anything but, Abraham’s trust in God faltered. When our faith is tested by unexpected trials we face the same questions he did – will we keep trusting in God’s promises? Will we still worship God? Will

You can hear more from Jason as he speaks at LCM’s annual Thanksgiving Service on Thursday 22 September, 6:30pm, Westminster Chapel. Register for free at lcm.org.uk/thanksgiving

we hold fast to the One who has drawn close to us in the past? (Gen.12:7-8). Or, like Abraham, will we give in to fear and rely on our own resources?

Of course, the situation ended well. God sent disease into Pharaoh’s household and Abraham’s deceit was soon uncovered. Furious, Pharaoh was keen to get rid of both Sarah and Abraham. He sent them back to Canaan unharmed with gifts of livestock and servants. This was the first, but certainly not the last, forceful reminder for Abraham that no matter how bad things seem, God is faithful, He keeps his promises and nothing will stand in the way of His purposes being accomplished.

For Abraham and us, unexpected trials provide opportunities to trust God’s unseen work, to accept His sovereign control in the bad days as well as the good, and to be thankful that though our faith falters God’s grip on us never does.

The story comes full circle and Abraham goes back to Canaan and calls on the name of the Lord (Gen.13:3). Pray that at the end of our life’s story we too would be found faithful; clinging to God’s promises and calling on His name.