Three Men

Genesis 18:1-15

The first question here might be how Abraham got that these three men were the Lord. How does that work? Answer: I don’t know. But I’m seeing it like one of those stories or movies where the character sees what no one else, including the audience, sees. Anyone but Abraham just sees three men. To Abraham their presence is revealed as that of God himself. It will go unexplained. To read into this something about the Trinity would be just that: a reading into the text.

The main point comes with the question in verse 14: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” If the answer is anything but “no” then the question is changed; we’re not talking about the Lord. You might be reluctant to utter the answer, however obvious, because then you realize immediately your faith and life has to match it, and we fail to live the answer, especially when we tend to be challenged with it, as was Sarah, precisely when we are least disposed to believe. The question really only comes up because of some kind of crisis. At least Abraham and Sarah knew what it was they were expected to believe would happen. When was the last time the Lord unmistakably spoke to you and told you to believe some specific thing that was going to happen?

What I think we can all do is apply the principle to a promise like that in Romans 8:38-39. Then you can see all the little blessings that come along the way as things God has fulfilled as sub-categories and signs of the fulfilling of the promise of eternal life. He may have told us about the things along the way that he would give or do – the child, the job, the friend, the opportunity, the gift – but instead of experiencing the Lord telling us what he was going to do we just saw three dudes at the door of our tent, and we’ve even forgotten about them.

Prayer:
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.
Open the eyes of my heart.
I want to see you, I want to see you.
- Paul Baloche