The Oaks of Mamre

 Genesis 18:1 (NASB)

¹  Now the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.

It was an ordinary day. Just a common day. A hot day. Abram sat inside his tent to get a little relief from the heat. He sat by the entrance to get a little breeze. He pitched his tent by the oaks of Mamre to take advantage of the shade from the trees. Little did he know what a sacred spot that would prove to be. 

Yahweh decided to reveal Himself to Abram. He appeared to Abram on that very ordinary day. The word appeared means that LORD became visible. In that moment Abram had a God encounter. He would never forget his experience with the Almighty by the oaks of Mamre. 

God's revelation that day would change the trajectory of Abram's life. So much so that God changed his name from Abram to Abraham indicating the future He planned for Abraham. God planned to give Abraham and Sarah a son. The impossibility of this becoming reality is spelled out in the scripture. They were old. Getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Sarah said of herself that she was worn out. She doubted that such an impossible thing could happen. She even laughed to herself at the outlandish idea. 

God asked Abraham a question I suspect He also asks us from time to time. IS ANYTHING IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE LORD? The word impossible can also be translated as difficult or heavy. Is anything difficult for God? Is anything so heavy that God cannot pick it up or move it as He chooses? 

Every one of us face impossible situations. I have mine and you have yours. Things that look beyond the realm of possibilities. That is because we choose to see things through our eyes and our limited resources. Problems we cannot fix, mountains we cannot move, and situations we cannot solve. From our perspective things look beyond hope. Our backs are against the wall. There seems no avenue to a preferred outcome. 

What did God will in this passage? To bless Abraham and Sarah with a baby boy they were to name Isaac. What does God will in your situation? How hopeless is your situation? Do you feel there is no way of escape because you are trapped between a rock and a hard place? God specializes in helping people out of such situations. NOTHING IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR HIM! Our situations are not so heavy that God cannot remove the heavy burden. 

It really comes down to what we believe. We are tempted to believe what we see. To focus on the impossibilities right in front of us. We fixate on these problems. Our courage melts in the shadows of these situations. We have a choice in these current circumstances and for the rest of our lives. We can believe what we see or choose to believe what God says. God said He would give Abraham and Sarah a son. He said the baby would come at the appointed time. Did God do what He said He would do?

Yes. How do we know. There is a nation called Israel that is proof that God fulfilled what He said He would do. Isaac had sons and those sons had sons that became the seed of a great nation. God did what He said He would do. 

Now, what about us? Will we be the people that God finally fails? Will God break His track record with us from being a promise keeper to becoming a promise breaker? Not a chance. God is faithful. He has proven through centuries that He can be trusted. He has demonstrated over and over again that He is reliable. 

I personally think God leads us into some of our trials to test our faith and to glorify Himself when He does the impossible. What is our impossible today? What imposing, improbable, and inconceivable thing do we need God do for us today? How might God work in those areas to show His power to do what others say cannot be done? Again, what do we see and what does God say? 

Brenda and I have seen God do the impossible time and time again. When we moved to FBC Seminole the church owned a missionary house, but they did not have a parsonage.  We had no down payment money to buy a house of our own. We were allowed to live in the mission house temporarily until we found our own place. We contacted a realtor from the church and began the journey of faith. We prayed and prayed. We looked into financing. We still did not have any down payment money. We looked at several houses. None of them felt right. Then we looked at 2112 N.W. Ave B. We loved it. It seemed way out of our price range. We got preapproved for a home loan, but still did not have any down payment money. It looked impossible. 

Enter stage right God. He did two things that looked impossible. One day the chairman of deacons came to my office with an envelope. Behind the scenes many in the church took up some money to help us with the down payment on a house. We did not ask anyone but God for help. To this day I don't know how they knew our need. God sure used those people. Those loving and generous people of FBC Seminole gave us $8,000! God was not done. Not long afterward one Saturday morning we had a knock at the mission house door. We were eating pizza and watching college football. A couple from the church came inside. He served on the search committee that called us to Seminole. He also was the president of a local bank where we set up our account. His wife was heavily involved in women's ministry. After exchanging some pleasantries, they handed us envelope telling they felt called by God to help us. Inside the envelope was $5,000. In a matter of days God blessed us with $13,000 to put down on the house. We did buy that house on N.W. Ave B. We made some happy memories there. It looked impossible. God flexed His muscle and made a way where there seemed to be no way. What God did for us He can do for anyone. 

Those special people from FBC Seminole have blessed us immeasurably since then. We left Seminole to start a church. We took a major step of faith and cut in pay. Private individuals have blessed us over the past 12 years with.... are you ready for this? Over $150,000. Not the church as a whole. Individuals. A $100 here. $500 there. $1,400 each month for five years. $6,000 one time recently. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD. We have seen it over and over again. TO GOD BE THE GLORY FOR THE GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE! We could not have possibly made it without God providing for our needs through other people. 

That is not the same impossible miracle as having a baby in old age. It is the same God working. I thank God for the trials over the years where Brenda and I were forced to trust Him for impossible things. We have learned first-hand God can be trusted. I hope you experience God for yourself. I hope you encounter Him in some powerful way in the near future. Then you will have your own testimony to share to encourage others. Maybe it will happen on some ordinary day, blazing hot outside as you sent on the front porch. When you least expect it perhaps God will reveal Himself to you setting the stage for a mighty miracle. Find your own oaks of Mamre. The God of the universe will soon reveal Himself and work in ways we cannot see right now. Press on in faith. Nothing is impossible with Him. 

The Oak of Moreh

 I completed reading through the Bible again yesterday. This morning I sat back and started over in the book of Genesis. I spent over a year teaching through the book of Genesis recently. I've read through the book numerous times. One of the things I love about God's word is that it is living and active. [Heb 4:12] No matter how many times I read it there is always something new to discover. 

I sat back in my chair and with the soft glow of the lamp on this little desk off from the living room illuminating the word of God. I started reading. Wanting God to speak to me. I read the creation account. Then about the curse of sin. About the Noah and the flood. I read the story of the tower of Babel with great interest. Then I settled in on Genesis chapter 12. I have long loved this chapter because of the first verse. The call of Abram to leave Ur and his relatives to follow God to an unknown destination. 

I slowed the reading pace when I came to that verse hoping God might speak to me again through it. He did not. He did speak. He did so in Genesis 12 but used verses this time I've never noticed before. Let me set the stage. Abram, his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and his servants all started following God toward Canaan. Then I saw it. A few little verses nestled in the chapter that begged my attention. Here they are. 

Genesis 12:5-7 (NASB)
⁵  Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.
⁶  Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.
⁷  The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. 

The oak of Moreh became sacred ground where God again encountered Abram. It was just a simple tree. A spot in the road. It was at the oak of Moreh where God appeared to Abram and gave him the covenant for the promised land Israel occupies to this day. A much-contested land with the Palestinians.

God does that. He meets us in unexpected places at unexpected times to reveal His plans and purposes. We never know where or when the next God encounter will happen. This morning it was in the pages of the Bible in verses I least expected to discover Him. I thank God for the oak of Moreh experiences. That is what pulls me out of bed at all hours of the night and morning to keep plowing through the scriptures. I know from past experience that I will meet Him in those pages. Life altering encounters with God await the serious student of scripture. 

As a young believer I used to read through devotional books and materials in my quiet times. Nearly twenty years ago I adopted a different approach. I just started reading through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation at my own pace. I tried those reading through the Bible in a year plans. I would fall behind and read furiously to keep up with the plan but got little out of it. When I started reading through the Bible at my pace, God started meeting with me. Don't misunderstand. Every day is not like today. Some days I read with no fresh word from the Lord. Other days like today, I read, and God meets me in unexpected places. I live for those encounters. Those unexpected divine appointments at the oak of Moreh. 

I am sure Abram was exhausted when he arrived at the oak of Moreh. Traveling back then was taxing and labor intensive. I am also sure Abram had a lot on his mind. Following God in blind faith. Not knowing where He was going. Not being able to answer all of Sarai's and Lot's inquisitions about where they would settle. With all of that going on God chose to meet Abram in an extraordinary way at an ordinary place. He still does that. 

Maybe your devotions have been lacking lately. Let me invite you to change your religious routine. Set aside some time with God. Meet with Him on a porch, in a lounge chair, in an office, at a cafe, or on a slow stroll. Don't rush through your time with Him. Read His word slowly praying for God to meet you in the pages. I assure you in God's time, you too will have your own oak of Moreh experience. I live for those moments. Maybe the crumbs from the spiritual food I feasted on today will whet your appetite for more. Your oak of Moreh lies ahead.