I was reading through Genesis 23, and it seemed to me like Abraham was targeting Ephron. Of all the men standing at that gate, he seems to set his sights on Ehpron’s specific plot of land. Why? Was it because he really liked the cave on the far end of the field? We’re not entirely sure, but maybe we get a hint when the text goes out of its way to tell us that he received the whole field “and all the trees that were in the field” (Genesis 23:17). Why mention the trees? Why all the legal details?
Maybe because this wasn’t just a real estate transaction, but rather the fulfillment of a long story. See, years earlier, Abraham had settled near the oaks of Mamre. There, he built an altar and worshiped the Lord (Genesis 13:18). It is quite possible that’s the same plot that he finally purchased. Think about that for a moment; long before Abraham owned a square foot of the Promised Land, he worshiped God on it. Long before the promise was fulfilled, he praised the One who made the promise.
I think that’s a great picture of faith. Faith is learning to worship on land it doesn’t yet possess. It’s praising God before the answer comes. It’s trusting God’s character while we wait on God’s timing.
I don’t know about you, but I’m tempted to postpone worship until God comes through. We tell ourselves we’ll praise Him when the scan comes back clear, when the job offer arrives, when the relationship is restored, when the prodigal returns, when the finances improve, or when the future feels secure. But Abraham-like faith worships before, because worship is not ultimately a response to fulfilled promises; it is a response to a faithful God.
Abraham’s confidence wasn’t rooted in what he possessed. It was rooted in the God he knew. The years of worship at Mamre prepared him for one of the hardest moments of his life. When Sarah died, Abraham was able to entrust her to the Lord because he had already spent years entrusting himself to the Lord.
Maybe there is an area of your life where you’re still waiting. Don’t wait to worship. Build the altar now. Trust God now. Praise Him now. The ground where you learn to worship today may become the ground where you discover tomorrow that God was faithful all along.
Ryan Paulson
Lead Pastor