Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Genesis 25:21, ” Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ” 

Background

Are you expecting anything? Anything at all? Has something been promised to you, either overtly or implied? Is there something specific that you know you are to receive, but just don’t know when it will be? Or have you made that kind of promise to someone, perhaps one of your children? The kind of promise where you tell them they will get this or be able to do that? The kind of promise that you sincerely intend to carry out, but for now you haven’t quite thought through all of the details as to how and when to make it happen? Those promises are the ones that are cause for fixation, aren’t they? Either given to us or made by us, the specific yet indefinite, certain yet vague guarantee can take its place at the forefront of attention, clouding the view of most everything else, even those blessings that may come in the interim. Promise a kid a trip to the toy store, and all the games you play with them and fun you enjoy together will barely register until you take them to their promised land. 

Application

We’re good about committing to something before thinking it through, right? And it’s not that we won’t fulfill our vow, it’s just that we sometimes put the proverbial cart before the horse, and need some time for the horse to catch up. And maybe that’s why certain promises from God always seem to be so slow to come. Perhaps God wants us to see how we impose our perceptions of ourselves and each other onto Him. We know that we have a tendency to be slack about certain things, and so we struggle to wait on God because we don’t know all the details, and therefore wonder if they even exist yet. Abraham and Sarah had to wait a long time for their promised son, and Isaac and Rebekah also struggled through barrenness. I wonder if it took them that long to realize that God will always be true to His word? Waiting can test your patience and your faith. But will you allow it to reveal your notion of how faithful you really think God is? Will you wait contentedly for what you know to come, because you know the One on whom you wait? 

Charge

As we seek Him today, examine your spiritual posture as you wait on God and His sure hand. Let time make you more convinced rather than less. 

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words