License to Sin

Ten very long years had gone by since the first time this man had received the promise; ten long years. I’m wondering, how long have you had to wait for a promise to be fulfilled? When you proposed or you were proposed to? Six months? One year? I doubt that it was ten years. At any rate, I’m not a parent nor I’m married, but I believe that these are two of the few things in life a man or a woman desire (at it’s appointed time of course) the most, and in many occasions become very impatient when waiting for it’s fulfillment.

Ten very long years had gone by since the first time this man heard, “I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). The promised son seemed to be delayed. I can imagine Sarai and Abram speaking to each other over dinner saying, “perhaps God is waiting for us while we are waiting for Him? What if God wants us to do something about it? Maybe God needs a little help?

So the next morning while Abram was enjoying a nice cup of non-caffeinated coffee (he must have been SDA), he notices Sarai somewhat quiet. This worries him because he knows that a quiet man is simply a thinking man, but a silent woman is hatching a plan! But finally, Sarai, walks in, and her following words knocks Abram off his seat spilling his coffee all over his chest: “Honey, I’ve been doing some thinking. We know that the Lord has prevented me from having children. So, go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her. Plus, the law of this land gives you legal authority to have more than one wife. So it’s all good in the hood.” Oh my friends, Abraham had just received his license to sin!

Abram’s ears cannot believe what she is saying! “Are you ill, honey? Are you feeling ok? Is it April’s fool’s day? haha you got me!” Sarai replies with a very serious face, “No, honey. I’m not kidding.” “You know”, Abram replies, “I know that I have failed you sometimes, but playing with my head like this is simply cruel. Is this some kind of trick you are playing on me to see if I fall?” But Sarai simply stays silent. “Alright then” Abram answers. “What my baby wants my baby gets. I’ll sacrifice my self. I’ll take one for the team!”

You know, some say that life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get. But my brother differs. He argues that life is more like a jar of jalapeños; what you do today might burn your rear-end tomorrow. And I must say, I completely agree with him. All of our decisions have consequences. Some deserve celebration and others deserve mourning.

As for Abram’s and Sarai’s decision, well let’s just say that they had to wait fifteen additional years for the promise of God to be fulfilled, caused marital problems between Abram and Sarai to the point that he had to kick his second wife and his own son out of the house, and till this day blood sheds in the middle east between Jews and Arabs because of the little help Abram and Sarai wanted to give God.

Scriptures states that there is an appointed time to everything, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. God certainly doesn’t need any of your help for Him to fulfill His promises in you. He has an appointed time to give the gifts He has fervently prepared for you, because God is the most interested in seeing you happy. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

So, whatever you are going through today, stop and don’t rush it. Learn to wait upon Him because those who wait upon the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. Wait upon Him even though it doesn’t make any sense. Even though it seems that He has forgotten about His promise. Even though it’s been too long. You know why? Because “people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Blessings!

Friends With Benefits... No strings attached!

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

She is a woman of experience. When you look straight in her eyes you can tell that she has been through a lot. The kind of person you wish you would sit down with, on a rocking chair, in front of a fireplace, sip on hot chocolate on a cold winter, and listen to all the stories about her crazy and fun young days. Her 65+-year-old body, wrinkles, and lazy eyes do not trig you to do anything else but hug her. Her husband, you might say, must love her to death. I looked at a picture of her and her husband that hangs from the wall in the living room, and thought, “Man, I would give anything to have a long-lasting happy marriage like. They must be married for decades.”

But very few things in life in fact are what they seem to be. “We have been married for about 11 years”, she said. “He lives in his house, and I live here. He has his own car, and I have mine. He cooks for himself, and I cook for my own. He hates to do laundry and iron his clothes, so I do for him… but I charge him. The thing is, Sergio, that it’s so annoying to have a person with you all the time. You know?” For a second I completely understood and was in agreement with her –Seriously, some people are just annoying. But during the following second I thought, “He is your HUSBAND for crying out loud!”

“So, are you guys fighting?” I asked. “No”, she replied calmly and with a smile. “Ever since we got married we have lived like this. We see each other once or twice a week. On the weekend we see each other at church, have lunch together, and in the evening we go out on a date. At night we usually come back to my apt, do what we have to do like any other married couple. I was paralyzed for a few seconds, probably with my mouth wide-open, cause my mind was thinking something that I would consider impossible for them to perform at their age, but then again I didn’t want her to give me the details so I kept quiet.

She continued saying, “Perhaps watch a movie afterwards, and at the end of the night he takes off back to his house. That’s usually our routine.” Wait a second, I thought, this sounds familiar. Yes! “Friends with benefits!” I said loudly in my head. “No strings attached!” The difference between them and these other couples are a couple of signatures on a legal note. “It’s better this way, Sergio. I don’t have to deal with his crap, he doesn’t have to deal with mine (I don’t know if she was speaking metaphorically or literally, but I, once again, kept quiet); and we are both very happy with the situation.

I couldn’t help thinking how sometimes our relationship of God is so similar to the relationship this couple have. We see Him, we meet Him, we like Him, we “fall in love” with Him, so we get married with Him through baptism, but don’t even go to a honeymoon with Him. When I asked my friend if they at least went to a honeymoon with her husband she asked, “What is that?”

After the wedding, we went our separate ways. God went back to heaven, and we went back to our house. But even though we don’t spent time during the weekdays, we make sure we spend a WHOLE day with him on the weekend. Instead of Him coming to our house, we go to His. We sing to Him, we smile at Him, we listen to His word, and we even share a meal together. In the afternoon we might take a nap, but in the evening we go out on a date, perhaps to a nice place where we can see the sunset. We smile at Him, give Him a big hug, say our goodbyes, and say, “It has been an awesome date today. See ya next week!”

He gives you a hug back, and whispers, “I… Love…. You… So much…”

Perhaps angels witness, once a gain, a tear rolling down His cheek…

So… What king of marriage do you have with God? What kind of relationship do you have with Jesus? How much do you really love your Creator? How often do you spend time with Him?

The five foolish bridesmaids that couldn’t get into the marriage feast did not enter for one and one reason only: The bridegroom did NOT know them (Matthew 25:12).

Do you want to be friends with benefits with God? No strings attached?