God's Promises Pay off Big

Game shows are one of America's favorite past times. The chance to be on television and win big money is very exciting. I was watching one of the newest game shows "Deal or No Deal" last night. It is a very simple game. There are 26 suitcases with different amounts of money in it with the top amount being 1 million dollars. The contestant picks a case that they think the million dollars is in and then they have to knock out all the other cases. As they do this they get offers from the banker that offers them money to trade in for the case they have chosen. Last night a woman selected a case and believed she had chosen the one with the million dollars in it. As she played the game the banker kept making her offers. At one point close to the end of the game the contestant was really under a lot of pressure and the banker offered her, what looked like a very good offer. She decided to accept $257,000.00 because it was more money than she had ever had. After she made the deal, the host opened the case she did in fact select and she had indeed selected the case with a million dollars. She admitted that she truly believed that she had chosen the case with the million even though she made the deal for $257,000.00. All of a sudden the offer she accepted seemed small to what she had and lost. I have seen this happen until to at least two other contestants. In fact not one contestant in the United States has ever one the million dollars, even when 13 out of the 26 cases had a million. I believe contestants in other countries have in fact won the million.
The contestants on "Deal or No Deal" remind me so much of the story of Abraham. Abraham is first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 11:26 and at the point his name of Abram not Abraham and his wife's name was Sarai (to be changed later to Sara) and she was barren. In Genesis 12:1-3 it states, "The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (NIV) Wow! That was very powerful. Can you imagine God giving you that kind or order and promise? Leaving everyone and everything you know, with no destination, and you will become a great nation and famous, but you have no political contacts, no one to count on, just stepping out on God,s word. Then to make matters more difficult your wife is barren. The story of Abraham continues until the 21st book of Genesis.
I wish I could say that every step that Abraham took was a step of faith, but that is just not true. He was just like the contestants on "Deal of No Deal." He looked at the natural circumstances of his life and took matters into his own hands. He took an offer that looked good at the time. He tried to perform God's promise in his own power instead of allowing God to work it out in is own time and power. Abraham traded in God's best for a total mess. He couldn't take the pressure and wait on the Lord and he almost missed what God had intended for him. God did in fact bless him as He said He would, but we have all paid a heavy price for Abraham's lack of faith.
We are all like Abraham in some aspect in our lives. We know the word of God, we truly believe that it is true and real in our lives, but we allow the natural circumstances of our daily lives, some which are very difficult, to cloud our judgement and take matters in our own hands. We accept an inferiour offer. When we do this we are in danger of missing the best that God has planned for us. We are not the only ones that lose out, but those we love and perhaps people we will never meet loss our too. So, if there is an area in your life that you are really struggling with and you think that God has totally forgotten His promise to you, believe me when I say He hasn't. Hold on to the promises that God has given you, and be a big winner.