Abraham- When "Indie" Films Succeed
Monday Morning Commentary
Yesterday, Pastor Chad kicked off our “Most Likely To" series with a message on Abraham. Indie or Independent films have increased in popularity over the past decade. An Indie film is produced outside of major systems of production typically featuring unknown actors. Indie films often do not succeed yet when they do they often succeed big time- winning Grammy awards. Abraham is the Indie film gone Grammy so to speak. How did his independence lead to success instead of failure?
Independence that leads to failure looks like:
• Independence rooted in self-will.
• Independence out of hurt and anger.
• Independence that destroys relationships instead of builds them.
• Independence for independence sake.
• Independence to build identity instead of from an identity built in God.
• Independence that is not submissive to any authority.
Abraham’s independence was different. Abraham did not start his independent journey until he was 75 years old. He had life experience and lived in submission to his father all that time. He learned to live wisely under his Father who never made it to his intended destination so when the time came for Abraham to go he was ready. Abraham’s independence led him to leave his father’s house, use his own money, personally train his own servants, and dig his own well.
Two major characteristics of his independence were:
• Independence from his own independence
• Independence sourced by God
Abraham learned to be independent of his own independence when the misuse of his strength led to failure. Abraham hurt his wife deeply by trying to preserve himself in foreign lands by instructing Sarah to lie about her identity and say she was his sister. Abraham learned that his independence could not make a child with Sarah. Sarah and Abraham’s decision to have a child through their servant Hagar led to strife and heart break.
Abraham learned that there were things he would have to wait on God for and that God could provide for Abraham without any help. God showed himself independent from Abraham by walking through the covenant for him and providing the lamb for the sacrifice.
Lastly, the journey Abraham took was commanded by God. Abraham anchored himself in the Lord by making altars in the wilderness. To some it may have looked like he had gone mad, yet to those with wisdom they could clearly see God was with him in all he did.
What about you? Are you an independent person? Can you identify with having a strong-will and trying to do things your own way? If so, take some time this week to think about where your independence is coming from- God’s command or self-will? Where do you need to stop leaning on your own understanding to allow God to accomplish for you what you cannot accomplish for yourself?
Or are you more dependent? If so, where is your dependence on others coming from- is it anchored in God’s command for community or fear that if you don’t please people you will be all alone? How can you grow in independence from other people’s thoughts and opinions to follow where God wants to take you.
God has wired us all uniquely with the strengths he knows we need to carry out His will for us. At the same time, these strengths have to be rooted in Him or else they will lead to our destruction.