Is Your Promise on Life Support?

There are many wonderful stories in the Bible where God gave people promises.  There is the one where He promised Abram that he would one day be the father of many nations.  He was 75 at the time God showed him the sands of the sea and the stars in the sky as a comparison of the multitudes he would one day be the father of.  Turns out he had to wait for more than 25 years to see this come to pass.  But you know what, Abram believed God and this blessed and pleased God.  God loves faith and it pleases Him if we just believe what He said.  

There are many more similar Bible stories, and it is easy for us to read them and wonder why these people ever doubted.  It is easy to think that way if you can read the end of each story and see that God was indeed true to His Word.  We have to remember that Abram at the time didn't have a Bible.  He barely knew God.  His own family worshiped the moon and the stars.  He couldn’t read about Joseph who went from the pit to the prison to the palace.  And even this fulfillment, as amazing as it was, took nearly 30 years.  

There is Noah who built an ark in his backyard waiting for the rain from Heaven that God spoke about that would flood the earth.  He preached for people to repent for nearly 100 years, all the while looking like a fanatical fool.  But it came to pass and the Bible calls Him righteous because He dared to believe a God who said rain is coming when he himself has never seen rain nor owned an umbrella.

The other day I listened to someone teach about Mary, Jesus' mother.  As you can recall, she was only about 16 when she was visited by an angel of the Lord.  He told her that she will have a Son who would one day become King with an everlasting reign and Kingdom who would save all of the world from their sins.  Little did she know at the time that for His whole lifetime she would wonder what happened to the words about Him being King, reigning forever.  His birth was without any royal flair or Kingly protection.  He grew up and to the best of what she could probably see, had no real ambition but to be a carpenter.  He didn't marry or had any grandchildren for her to love.  And then He became radical and was hated to the point where they plotted to have Him killed.  She saw Him being captured and tortured and finally, her dream and the promise was hung on a cross and died.  Her promise was beyond life support, it was dead and mummified, ready for a tomb.  I wonder what she thought.  How do you - or your promise - recover from being dead and buried?  She must have questioned her own sanity, wondering if she misunderstood the whole thing.  But, three days later He rose - just like the Father said He would.  Her promise came to life and was fulfilled right in front of her very eyes.  Imagine that!!   

Sometimes we can get so fixated on the promise - on getting an answer to our prayers.  But to God it is not necessarily only about the promise of the baby, or the healing, or the position.  To Him it is about “will you believe Me and keep standing no matter what - even unto the death of a promise so I can raise it up again?”  God loves faith and for as long as you are standing, believing, expecting, you honor and please Him.  Once you receive the answer to your promise, you might think I am so glad this is finally over with.  I hope I never have to stand and believe like that again.  But, you have just learned how to do it and being a Christian on this earth will always require faith and even more so as we move into the end of times.  So better get ready for the next bout of standing by faith - for it is sure to come - and with it another great opportunity to honor and please our amazing Heavenly Father.  

If your promise today is on life support and you feel like pulling the plug, DON’T DO IT.  Don’t listen to those who say it can’t happen, don’t look at the dwindling line of people who used to believe with you - even though there is only half a handful of faithfuls left and it looks like your promise is all but dead and buried - God has not forgotten.  If you keep standing and don’t quit, YOU WILL SEE HIM FULFILL HIS WORD TO YOU!  

I have my own promise that has been alive in my heart for more than 20 years.  Last night I got a fresh word of encouragement.  It came from the most trustworthy person I know, it came from my Father Himself.  It was the word “Hope”.  The scripture that came to mind was in Rom 5:5 NKJV:

5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Hope is confidence, expectation, trust.  I thought the Word says that we get the promises by faith?

Heb 6:12 KJV - ..that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Yes, but faith needs hope to carry it for as long as it takes so you will see it fulfilled.  The scripture in Rom 5 sure is encouraging.  It says that hope does not disappoint.  I choose to take my Father’s word on that.  What makes this scripture even more remarkable is that it goes hand in hand with the fact that the Holy Spirit has been given to us.  The Holy Spirit - and this is a subject for another post - is the first down payment of God fulfilling His promises to you which gives double assurance that He will do what He said He will do.  

Rom 8:23-25 NKJV - 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

And finally, besides the promises made to us personally and the fact that there is an empty grave - a promise fulfilled to a 16-year-old virgin girl - there is today a cloud of faith witnesses cheering us on.  Among them I have my own family members who have gone before me.  They are standing at the finish line waiting as I keep running the race, looking unto Jesus.. 

Heb 12:1 NKJV - Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Be encouraged today!  God knows how to bring His will to pass in your life.  He who made the promise to you, HE IS FAITHFUL..

Heb 10:23 NKJV - Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Photo credit - Janine's daily view of God's spectacular creation.

If you want to receive email notifications for new blog posts, please head to the home page www.findingthemore.blogspot.com for a free subscription.

You can also subscribe to my other blog:  Let God Be True (forgodistrue.blogspot.com)