13 years of waiting
What were you doing 13 years ago? Go on, pause for a minute and think about it. I was fresh out of high school, and had recently moved to Sydney to do an Arts degree at Sydney uni (which I soon dropped out of). It seems a lifetime ago.
Now that you've worked out what you were doing 13 years ago, think about this: what have your last 13 years been filled with? For my part, I can name three more education courses I enrolled in since then (let's not talk about how many I actually finished), four jobs I've worked in, five houses I've lived in, four cars I've owned ... not to mention the many people I've had the pleasure of meeting, some of whom are still around and some of whom are now far, far away.
My point is that 13 years is a long time. Of course, in the grand scheme of life-death-the universe-eternity-the cross-and-everything-else, 13 years is a trifle. It's nothing. But within the scope of my life, 13 years is quite a chunk of time—almost half my life.
And I couldn't help noticing, as I made my way through Genesis recently, that 13 years is roughly the time between God promising Abraham a son, and God fulfilling that promise.
At the beginning of Genesis 15, God specifically promises Abraham (still Abram at the time) his own heir:
And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” (Gen 15:3-4)
Almost immediately, Abram's wife Sarai takes matters into her own hands. She's been unable to bear children, so she figures Abram had better try his luck with her servant, Hagar. I can just imagine it: God makes Abram a promise; Abram and Sarai are amazed and astonished and humbled and grateful; but five minutes later, they're thinking, “So when? Huh? When? When do we get a son? And how? Huh? How?” And I can imagine myself doing exactly the same thing.
So Abram follows Sarai's advice, and Hagar bears Abram a son.
But God will not be forced into hurrying. His plan is for Sarai, not Hagar, to bear Abram's heir. And as I quickly read Genesis 16-17, I almost missed the fact that 13 years passed before God brought his plan to fruition:
And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” ... And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her ... I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” (Gen 16:15-17:21)
13 years!
It's an excellent reminder to be patient as we bring our requests to God. Like Abraham, we don't know when God will grant them. Unlike Abraham, we often don't even know if God will grant them (depending on the request). In a culture of instant-everything, we need regular reminders to be faithful in our prayers and patient as we wait upon God to answer.