By Hannah Pillay • Jan 31, 2023
The 2023 edition of Our Best Thought is based on the devotional book, Missionary God, Missionary Bible by Dick Brogden. It is written by and for the Community, together with other devotional aids found. To subscribe to this Community on WhatsApp, click here. Send in your reflection on the readings via email here.
As I write this, I have just finished one month of devotional reflections based on our current Bible reading plan “Missionary God, Missionary Bible”. I am grateful to Brogden for his historical contextualization and his insights into God’s plan to always reach out to all the peoples of the world. It has helped me broaden my view of mission as well understanding the vast diversity of God’s people. Our God is truly a multicultural God.
But there has also been another understanding as I read through the scriptures. I began to notice the actions of God, the thoughts of God and the desire of God to build relationships with his people. This shows in his willingness to dialogue with his people in all the situations they find themselves in. God’s people were imperfect but that has not stopped God from reaching out and fulfilling his promises.
The relationship between God and Abraham first caught my attention. In Genesis 12:1 “God said to Abram” to leave the land and move out to a land. God promised to bless him and bless all the families on earth. Abram obeyed and in 12:7 “God appeared to Abram” and reassures him. Almost immediately after that Abram messes up by lying about the status of his wife. Somehow his faith failed him at this point. But God does not give up on him but rescues him from the mess he created through his own foolishness.
When Abram and Lot separated, God again communicated with Abram and said, “Look as far as you can see” (13:14). And then in verse 15 “I am giving all this land,” “Go and walk through the land 13:17). I was struck by the personalisation of this relationship. God repeatedly spoke to Abram using the phrase “I am”, indicating He is a personal God.
Chapter 15 begins with “the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision” and the rest of the chapter relates the dialogue that Abram had with God about his concerns of the future. God listened to his concerns and went on to seal his covenant with Abram. What a beautiful demonstration of God’s love for us! He hears us when we have concerns and, in His grace and mercy, answers us.
As Abram learned to trust and obey God, the relationship between God and Abram changed and God gave him a new name Abraham. Chapter 18 marks a change in the relationship between Abraham and God. God comes in the form of angels and dines and continues the conversation of an heir. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is in the air. Lot was resident there. But what is striking to me is verse 17 where God asks himself the question “Should I hide my plan from Abraham”. Verse 20 answers the question “So the Lord told Abraham”, about the coming destruction. One wonders why the Almighty God did that. I can only speculate that God knew that Abraham would be concerned about the fate of his nephew and because of the relationship, God shared this information.
The dialogue that follows again shows God’s love of Abraham who pleads with God to spare the city and his nephew’s family. The chapter ends with this lovely description: “When the Lord finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way” (vs35). I was moved by this. God has and wants to have conversations with his people about everything that concerns us.
Chapter 19 tells us about what happened when the angels came to warn Lot to flee the city. “But God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe.” Our God hears our cry and listens and in His mercy acts.
My reflections on the life of Abraham tells me that God wants to use us, the imperfect people. In the process, God patiently builds His relationship with us, through His presence and His conversations. As we know our God, we will know His desires and His plans for us.
Our reading plan focuses on God’s missionary plan. But I would also encourage us to notice the relationship between God and His people and the leaders He chose. The Bible records instances where God uses the personal pronoun “I”. “I am the God of your Fathers” “I have heard their cries” “ I have come to rescue” and many more. There also other instances which God appears and speaks to his people i.e. Moses and the burning bush. They tell me that our God wants to have a close and personal relationship with each one of us.
A missional heart is based on a close personal relationship with God. As we see and know the person of God, we will then have a clearer understanding of the mission He sets out for each of us.
*Scripture quotations from the New Living Translation.