Are you waiting?  Are you tired?  Are you tired of waiting?  Is your life in a perpetual holding pattern? You’re not alone.

Abraham:  God promised Abraham that from his seed a mighty nation would arise.  Abraham: the man whose elderly wife was barren; the man who left all to pursue God.  Do you realize that length of time that elapsed between the revelation of the promise to Abraham to the fulfillment of the promise (Isaac’s birth) was twenty-five years?    That’s 25 years of waiting.  Abraham watched his nephew, Lot, accumulate wealth, status, and prestige in an up-and-coming (albeit wicked) city...while Abraham lived in a tent with no heirs except his head servant and a bunch of animals. 

Do you think that Abraham became tired of waiting?  Absolutely!  We know the story...how his wife, Sarah, thought up a plan for Abraham to have a child through her maidservant, Hagar.  And we know how much that really did NOT work out.  (Genesis 16)

So, yeah, Abraham messed up when he tried to “help” God.  Have you ever wanted to “help” God along with something?  Do you ever feel that God is moving too slowly for your liking?   I would venture to guess that most of us have felt like this...especially when we are in a holding pattern. 

Twenty five years later, Isaac was born to Abraham (age 100) and Sarah (age 90).  Had this happened in 2011, the plain of Hebron would have been overrun by every news media and genetic scientist known to mankind because, after all, it is not every day that a nonagenarian gives birth to a healthy baby boy!  They would be receiving calls from Oprah, Jay Leno...all of them....

But, the bigger story in regard to Abraham is the fact that God honored His promise.  Yes, Abraham had to wait 25 years for the promise to be fulfilled, but, even though Abraham got ahead of God’s plan and failed (he failed many times, as recorded in Genesis), he believed God.  God was faithful to Abraham.  He used the holding pattern to teach Abraham to become fully dependent upon Him...to the point that Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac upon God’s command. 

Twenty-five years earlier, Abraham received the promise but did not see the entire picture.  God, who is not bound by the law of time as we are, in His infinite wisdom and knowledge, could see the ENTIRE plan...which involved the holding pattern.  Holding patterns are no fun...waiting is the pits!!  But, sometimes the waiting is absolutely necessary in His Sovereign Plan. 

You may be currently living in limbo...in a holding pattern.  You may not see God working.  You may see the wicked being blessed while you are living in absolute poverty.  You may not even feel God’s presence.  BUT...and praise God for the BUT... HE IS HERE.  He can see the entire picture.  He has read the end of the story.  You (and I) simply need to trust Him.  What He says, He does.  He will NOT break His promises.  He can be trusted because HE IS GOD. 

Are we going to mess up?  Count on it.  Are people going to betray us?  Yep.  Is life going to be fair?  Ha!  Abraham failed many times but God did not zap him down when he failed.  Instead, Abraham regrouped and continued to pursue God as his friend....while he waited and waited.

We can take God at His word because He is God:  For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you;  plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

Blessings,

Lisa D

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