Discover The Word

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac” (Hebrews 11:17).

IDEA: Our concept of what life should be may conflict with what life is and that adds great tension to our lives.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that what they assume about life can be the source of great discomfort.

Dr. Jerome Frank of Johns Hopkins talked about our “assumptive world.” He argues that all of us have assumptions about life—how life is and what other people should be. He goes on to argue that when our assumptions are close to reality, we live relatively happy lives. If our assumptions are distant from reality, we can become disillusioned and angry.

Would his observation strike you as accurate?

I. One assumption Christians may make is that the ideal is normal.

What is the difference between the “ideal” and the “normal”? When I lived in Massachusetts, I could get from my home in Gloucester to Boston’s Logan airport early on a Sunday morning in 30 minutes. That was “ideal.” Was it normal? Suppose someone wanted to get to the airport on Monday morning at 7:30 and asked how long it would take to get there. To say 30 minutes would be a lie.

If we assume that the ideal is “normal,” it can get us upset with God. If I assume that a normal life means health, laughter, prosperity, and that these are things that God must provide for us, then when they are disrupted, I can get very angry with God.

“Why would God let my business fail?”

“Why would God allow me to flunk this important exam?”

Why would God allow us to lose the baby?”

“I thought the normal Christian life would be different from this!”

II. Think of the assumptions that Abraham and Sarah could have made about God if they had assumed that the ideal is normal:

“God has called us from our comfortable home in Ur of Chaldees to walk in faith with him—therefore…”

“God has promised us the land as our inheritance—therefore…”

“God has given us Isaac in our old age—therefore…”

CONCLUSION: Sometimes life with God can be ideal. The danger comes when we assume that the ideal is normal.