Have you ever waited for something? Maybe a phone call back to see if you got the job or a shipment of some great thing you purchased for yourself? You've got a promise of a return phone call or an email with a tracking number that gives you an estimated time of arrival. You anticipate with excitement the fulfillment of that promise. Well, Rob and I have been waiting on a promise. We received a promise from God for a baby girl in November 2012. It came at a time I thought I was pregnant. Turns out I just really didn't know my body that well but God knew. We've been waiting on her for a little over a year. After being married 8 years and trying to get pregnant for 3 of the 8 years, we get asked A LOT about kids. Do you have kids? Do you want kids? When are you planning on having kids? Are you going to adopt kids? Any news if you're pregnant with a kid??? :) In a culture that is not very fond of waiting (myself included) it doesn't make very much sense that we don't have kids at this time in our lives; then I'm reminded of the countless stories of men and women in the bible who had to wait for the fulfillment of their promise from God. I think of David, and the promise he received as a kid that he was going to be king. His promise wasn't fulfilled until he was 30 years old. I think of Joseph, and the dreams he had at age 17 of becoming a respected leader in Egypt. He didn't become the prime minister of Egypt until he was 30. For Noah, it was 120 years before the floodwaters came. People thought he was crazy. He had 120 years of ridicule and doubters to deal with. Up until recently, when asked about kids, a little piece of my heart would get sad because I didn't have an answer I felt was good enough for the person asking. It was good enough for me but I still felt like my answer didn't measure up to what people expected to hear. And the truth is, to most, it doesn't measure up. I've realized that I can trust God and His promises. He's so worthy of my trust. How could I not trust Him? He's my Dad. He's my loyal and faithful confidant. He knows my heart. He knows me. He loves me. He gave me a promise EXACTLY when I needed it and He'll fulfill it EXACTLY when I need it. In the meantime, I'm encouraged to let people know, I have a promise. I'm trusting in Him and He will not fail me. What's the lesson here? Often times we feel pressured to rationalize His promise to us instead of just trusting and waiting. We want to make it happen when all God is asking us to do is be patient and put our whole trust Him. I'd rather trust him 100% and eventually see His promise fulfilled and get to say, "Lord, it was tough to wait but you have sustained my hope. Thank you for fulfilling your promise" instead of saying, "Lord, I'm sorry I didn't trust you and lived in fear and worry." What's your promise today? I hope this blog post encourages you to continuously put your hope in the One who makes promises he will never leave unfulfilled.
Hebrews 11:11 AMP "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, [a]the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]."