Promises of God

Genesis 15:4-5; 21:1-5
Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars-if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." . . . Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.


Can you imagine having a child at the ripe age of 100? I have a three-year-old, and she takes pretty much all my energy. I can’t imagine having to chase after her at 103! Yet, this promised child of Abraham’s was so precious, because he had been waiting so long to hold him in his arms. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to wait 15 years for this child, knowing he was coming. God spoke the promise to Abraham, and yet He did not fulfill that promise until about 15 years later! I would imagine that each and every month he and Sarah waited with baited-breath to see if this was the month. I would bet that not a day went by when Abraham didn’t think about it at least once. He probably fell asleep at night wondering what the child would look like, and imagining all the adventures they would have together. I wonder, do you think it completely dominated his thoughts, or was he able to just go on living, understanding that the promise would be fulfilled in God’s perfect time?

Has God spoken a promise unto your heart? A sweet and precious promise that you hold so dear, so close, that not a day goes by without your thinking about it, meditating on it, praying about it? This is one of the most difficult situations, I think, living with an un-fulfilled promise, just waiting for God to move His mighty hand, and bring it about. While we believe in and hope for this precious promise, we must also go on living each day, following God. We cannot let it so dominate our thoughts that we are not living our lives here and now.

Every time this un-fulfilled promise comes to mind, let’s just lift our hands in praise and prayer, for the moment, and simply give it back to God. Give it back to Him, because, really, until He does what He has promised, it is in His hands – it is His promise. Let this be a way that we can practice our trust in Him, walking in the knowledge that we are being prepared for this great and precious promise. For the time-being, we are just exactly where He wants us, where He needs us. Somehow, in the midst of it all, we need to live our lives, enjoying each day, not staking our entire hope and happiness on this promise that is yet to come. Our hope must be in the Lord, and the promise of salvation through Christ.

So, until your promise comes to you, there is no need to worry or fret, because not a single one of the Lord’s promises has ever failed or gone unfulfilled. Amen.