Get Out Of Your Tent!
Pastor Chip Kawalsingh
Genesis 15:5 (NLT) - Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
This is an amazing passage of scripture: Abram will soon become Abraham and Sarai will be Sarah, and the man with no son will soon have one - as well as many descendants! We all know the ending of this remarkable story, but I’m sure there would have been moments when Abram and Sarai would have questioned God. They tried to help God out, but that resulted in Ishmael and not what God had intended. When I read Genesis 15:5, I picture in my mind God making Abram get up and count the stars. To do it he had to leave his tent and go outside. In times when we feel low or upset or discouraged, we need to get out of that mindset, remove ourselves from the emotions that would drag us down and look to the one who can make positive changes in our lives.
Psalm 121:1-2 (NLT) - I look up to the mountains—does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth!
The promises of God are ‘yes and amen’, but even when we have the great promises of God, we still need to wait on their fulfilment. It’s in these times of waiting that we can mess up and delay the promises coming our way. Waiting is not a bad thing; it just teaches us to depend on God and helps us to learn what ‘trust’ is. Waiting teaches us how to cope with life - by leaning on God! Waiting ‘in God’ is much different to waiting ‘on God’.
Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) - But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Waiting on God doesn’t mean that you stay in your tent; you have to get out of it! Get out of your tent and do the simple, ordinary, everyday things that God has called us all to do. Your prayers will be answered, but you have to come out of your tent, raise your eyes and count those stars!
When we stay in our tents, that’s when doubt sets in. Human wisdom takes over and we actually mess up. Sarah laughed in her tent, David sinned with Bathsheba in his tent (palace) when he should have been at war, and Saul hid in his tent when he was called to lead the Israelites into battle against Goliath and the Philistines. Don’t stay in your tent when you should be at church!
Hebrews 10:25 (CEV) - Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord's coming is getting closer.
Let’s pray
Father God, thank you for the stars in the sky which serve as a reminder of the promise you made to Abraham. Father, I am sorry for the times when I stayed in my tent and let my own small-mindedness come in the way of your awesome promises over my life. Give me the grace and insight to see what you want me to see. Amen!
Join us this Sunday as Pastor Chip preaches on ‘Get Out Of Your Tent’
