Genesis 21:1-7
At last, some 25 years after the Lord had promised him a son, Abraham was able to hold his child in his arms. The miraculous had happened. The thing that seemed too impossible to be true had taken place. God had done what He had said He would. Abraham and Sarah named the child Isaac, which means “laughter”. Both had laughed at the absurdity of the promise (Genesis 17:17, 18:12). Now they laughed with joy. Every time they spoke their son’s name they would be reminded of what God had done for them.
But why was Isaac’s coming so delayed? It is generally assumed that it was the Lord’s idea to keep Abraham and Sarah waiting all those years but perhaps the timing was not in His hands at all? It seems more likely that He was waiting for them to have the faith they needed to take hold of what He had promised them; for Abraham to get to the point where he no longer wavered through unbelief (Romans 4:18-20) and for Sarah to come to a place where she counted on God’s faithfulness, no matter how impossible things looked (Hebrews 11:11). Only then were they in the position to receive the miracle that He had promised to them. In God’s kingdom we do not see first and then believe; we believe first and then we see.
Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
(See also Matthew 8:13, Mark 9:23, Luke 8:50, James 1:6-7.)
Maybe you are waiting for God to do something in your life? Perhaps you need physical healing? Maybe there is a family situation you have been asking God to resolve, or you are looking for the fulfilment of a prophetic word that someone has given about your future? Let me ask you a question: What does your waiting look like? Are you praying in vague hope, or do you have confident expectation? Are you assuming that God will pitch up when He is ready while you wait passively or are you actively declaring His promises and picturing those things in your imagination? Are you focused on the obstacles that look as though they will prevent God’s promise being fulfilled, or is your gaze fixed on the faithfulness of the One for Whom nothing is impossible? When we can see with our spiritual eyes that what God has promised is already ours, we know that it will soon be manifested in the physical realm. That is what it means to have faith.
Prayer
Father God,
I thank You that You are always faithful to keep Your promises. Forgive me for blaming You when I do not see the fulfilment of what I am hoping and praying for. I recognise that my wrong thinking puts limitations on what You can do in my life. I ask that You will help me learn how to grow in faith, that I might start to see the fulfilment of your promises to me.
Amen.
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