ABRAHAM: The Man of Endurance

Genesis 21:1-3

Call Abraham not only a man of faith (see Gal. 3:9), but a man of endurance. The starting gun sounded when God promised Abraham a son in his old age, and Abraham "believed in the Lord" (Gen. 15:5,6). But a year came and went, and no child arrived.

Abraham kept running. Two years flashed by, and still no child. Still Abraham kept running. Despite a stumble at mid-race (Gen.16), Abraham kept running. For 25 years he kept running, until at last, at age 100, he and his wife, age 99, had a son (Gen.21:1-3).

Why the long wait? Apparently, God wanted Abraham (and us)! to learn the connection between waiting, trust, and hope (Ps.33:20). And that hope, the apostle Paul reminds us, prompts us to wait on God "with perseverance" (Rom.8:25).

Even if that means running the longest marathon of our life.