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Helping Our Neighbors See God (Genesis 26:26-33)

July 20, 2021 | by: Gregg Hunter | 0 comments

Posted in: Genesis 26

Yesterday, we followed Isaac’s example in dealing with quarrelsome neighbors. We learned that, no matter how difficult his neighbors got, Isaac simply removed himself from the conflict and continued to worship the Lord. God blessed Isaac for his faithfulness, and, as we will see today, his neighbors noticed.

 

Please read Genesis 26:26-33.

Isaac is right to be indignant with Abimelech. In sending him away, Abimelech was sending Isaac away from his home and forcing him to go above and beyond in order to provide for his family. Yet, through the trials, Isaac was able to experience the blessing of God on an even greater level.

The same is true for us today. Often, we as Christians like to think that God will bless us materialistically for our faithfulness. We have this old covenant idea that God will give us a good house, obedient children, favor at our jobs, and lasting good health if we are faithful to Him. But this isn’t what God promises Christians! Jesus Christ promised His disciples that, in this life, they would be persecuted. These persecutions and trials will help to strengthen our faith. Throughout the New Testament, persecution is accepted as the normal state of affairs for the Christian; not something that only a select few will experience. If we are to grow in our walk with Christ, it will usually happen through persecution.

This is difficult for many of us to accept because we want all of the material blessings that we think God will give us. But God knows what we truly need. He wants to use us for His glory, and He knows that we need to live a life with a purpose. So, God allows us to go through trials and difficulties of every kind, and He promises to be with us in the trial. This is the positive testimony that our neighbors need to see!

Abimelech said “we see plainly that the Lord has been with you.” He saw this by the Old Covenant standard of God’s material blessing on Isaac. But today, our neighbors don’t see us building a new addition on our house and think, “wow, God is clearly with them.” Our neighbors see that God is with us when we go through a trial with joy; when we experience loss but don’t mourn as one who has no hope; when we can be just as quarantined and confused about coronavirus as everyone else, but still have the peace of God that passes all understanding. It is when we go through trials and continue to glorify God in the midst of the storm, that our neighbors notice that there is something different about us.

When they, like Abimelech, come to us proclaiming that the Lord is with us, then we have the opportunity to share with them the good news of Jesus Christ. Isaac shared with Abimelech by making a feast and exchanging oaths, thereby displaying the goodness of God. But we display the goodness of God today by sharing with our neighbors that Jesus Christ loved them so much that He died on the cross to pay the price for their sins. “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).

That is the message that we have to proclaim. As believers in Jesus Christ, we proclaim the gospel in all that we do. And if God wants to use our suffering and trials to magnify His message in us, then so be it. May we be willing to endure whatever is necessary so that our neighbors too might be able to have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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