Believing God’s Promises

And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Genesis 15:4

If you’re anything like me, or most people for that matter, you have taken things into your own hands time and time again. I mean God obviously wants us to help ourselves, right? God helps those who help themselves, right?

WRONG!!!

Why God continues to use us, I don’t know. He obviously doesn’t need our help. In the passage above God is talking to Abram (Abraham). Abraham was old at this point and had no children, but God promised an heir would come from his own body, his own flesh and blood. Now, God is directly talking to him. How many times have we just thought if we could hear God audibly speaking to us? I mean surely we’d get it right then.

But you see, even then when God was plainly spelling it out, they still thought they needed to help God out. If you read on in the next chapter of Genesis, you’ll see that Abraham’s wife took matters into her own hands. She told Abraham to take her maidservant, Hagar, and have a baby with her. This all seems so ridiculous. First of all, God has promised an heir. Secondly, there is no way I’m handing my husband over to any woman. However, if you read on, Hagar has a son named Ishmael, but he was not the promised heir. The promised heir, Isaac, came several years later when Abraham was 100.

We can look at that story and wonder why, but haven’t we all been there? Haven’t we clearly heard the Holy Spirit talking to us, and then thought we needed to help out? I know I have. If you know me at all, you know I am not patient. I hate waiting for anything. I don’t even like driving around the parking lot looking for a good parking place. So when God makes me wait for something He has promised I struggle.

I have a really hard time waiting for God’s promises to come to fruition, but sometimes that’s what we have to do. Sometimes we just need to sit still and wait. Psalms 27:14 says, “Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

I am learning to wait on the Lord. I am learning to be still and listen for His voice. It’s not always easy, and I’m sure I’m not always going to get it right. I am, though, learning to believe God’s promises and wait for His timing.