SundayServe:God,

When?–TheDi
ff
icul
ti
esofWai
ti
ngonGod’
s
Promises.
I
’mr eall
ygladt haty ouguy stooky ourti
met ocli
ckt heli
nkandr eadt hi
s.Thi sisthefirst
blogpostI’m maki nginaser i
esthatIhopeIwi llbringtoy ouguy sev erySunday .I
nf act,t
hisone
wassupposedt obepost edyesterdaybutsomet echnical dif
fi
cul ti
esandaheav ydoseof
procrasti
nationdel ayedt hi
sone.Buti ti
sher eandIhopey ou’l
l getsomet hingoutoft hetime
youspendr eadingt hi
s( becauseit’
sabi tlonglol)
.Justasapoi nttonot e,Ili
kewr i
ti
ngabout
thingsthatIam l earningandSundaySer veisasmal lwindowi nt owher eIam onmyspi r
it
ual
j
our ney.Idon’talsocl aimtohav emast eredthesei ssuesIt al
kaboutbutIdost ri
vetowar dsthe
mar k.ShouldIhav emi sseditorifyoushar eadifferentopi ni
on, Iam opent odiscussingthis
withany onewi l
li
ngt odoso.That ’showweedi fyeachot her ,
right?

Now, t
hepromi sesofGodar esomet hi
ngChr i
sti
anstalkaboutal lt
het ime.Thebi bleisful
lof
thesepromises–pr omi sesofhealt
h, peace,wealt
h,wellbeing,pr
otection,r
edempt i
on,ref
uge,
j
oyandmanyot hers.These, whil
etheymaycomeacr ossasgener al,areprett
yper sonal
becauseGodi ntendst of ul
fi
lthem foreachandev erysingleoneofusaccor dingtoourneeds
andthepurposeGodhasf orourli
ves.God’sbibli
calpromisesar eaccessibletoany onewho
beli
evesandt hey’r
ev eryimpor t
anttoourf ai
thastheygi veusani nsightonthemi ndofGod
towardsHischildrenandHi sdesir
esf orthem.Beli
efandf aithareinseparablefrom these
promises.Withoutt hese,I’
m notsuret hatwecanbeabl et oaccesst hesepromi ses.

Wear eoftent aughtabouthav ingf aithandbel ievingi nGod’ spromi sesandwegof oritwithal
l
thatwehav e.Wecl aimt hem, weshout“ Ireceive!
”, wedecl arethem andwepr ayusi ngthese
promi ses.Wegobey ondacogni tiv
ebel i
efi nthepr omi seGodhasgi venusandt ranslatethat
i
ntoact i
nginf aith.Ifindthatthemoment saf t
errecei ving,i
nvokingordecl ari
ngthepr omi ses
arewhenweatt hepeakofbel iev i
ngi nthepr omi seandact i
nginf ai
th.Allt
hisisfueledbyus
beingexpect antoft hepr omiset obef ul
fil
led-whi chi swhatf ai
this,ri
ght?(TenChr ist
ianpoints
forus!).Weusual l
yhav enopr obl em wi t
hpr omi sest hatar efulf
il
ledwi t
hintheperiodweexpect
them t obef ulfil
led.Theonest hatt ake“tool ong”ar et heoneswebat t
lewith.I
nbet ween
beli
ev i
nganddi sbeli
ev i
ngweof tenscr eam out ,prayorsi gh“God, when?”outoffrust r
ation.
Afterawhi let hatent husiasm diesdown, ourexpect ancyi serodedandt heclai
ming, declari
ng
andr eceivi
ngt urnstoquest i
oni ng,doubt inganddi sil
lusionment .

What ’
sof t
enlef toutoft heconversationaroundGod’ spromisesi s_how_towai tonGod’ s
promises.Forme, thishasbeent her ealtestofmyf ai
th.IbelievethathowIwai tont hepromi se
i
sar efl
ectionofmyf ai
th.Ifyoufull
ybel i
eveint hepromi seandt heGodwhogav ethepr omise
thenweknowt hatweshoul dnotquest i
onwhet herthepr omisewi l
lbefulf
il
led,weshoul dn’t
doubtthatitispossi blenorshouldwef eeldisil
l
usioned.Butt hatiseasiersaidthandone.The
trut
his,thehumansi deofusl ov
est hingsitcansee, t
hingsitcanpr edi
ctandt hingsthat
happenasi tenv isi
onst hem.Thatdoesbr ingassur ancet hat
,atthev er
yleast,somet hi
ngi s
happeningsot hepr omi seisonitswayandt hathelpsfant hef l
amesofourf ai
thsucht hatwe
remainexpect antandent husi
asti
c.Buti sitreal
lyfaithifwehav et orel
yonwhati stangibl
e?

Ourdesi
ref
orwhat
’st
angi
blel
eadsust
ofr
ett
ingandst
ressi
ng,
yetourGodpr
omi
sest
hatHe
wil
lgiveHisblessi
ngtousandaddnosor rowtoit(Prov
erbs10:22).Whataddstothisi
sthat
weliveinatimeinhistor
ywherewewantev er
ythingi
nstant
lybutthisi
ssomet hi
ngthathas
exi
stedthroughoutthegener
ati
ons.Ther
earethreeexamplesfrom thebi
blethatshowthree
ways,Ithi
nk,wecommonl yr
eactwhenGod’spromisesseem totaketoolong.

1.WeTendt
oQuest
ionThePr
omi
se
AfterAbr aham (whowasst il
lcalledAbr am, atthetime)r eceivedthepr omiset hathis
offspri
ngwer egoingtoi nheri
tthel andwhi chTheLor dwasgoi ngtogi v ehim, he
believ
edi nt hepromiseandupr ootedhi sf ami l
yasanactoff ait
h.Ast hey earswenton
hehadanot herencount erwiththeLor dwher eGodr eaf f
ir
mst hepromi sey etAbraham’ s
atti
tudethist imearoundwasdi fferent.InGenesi s15:2,Abr aham prettymuchsay st o
God“ Whatusei sthislandort hesegi ftsifIam aboutt odieandst i
l
l don’ thav eanheirto
i
nher i
titasy oupromised?Ori st hehei ry ou’rereferr
ingt omyt r
ustedser vant,notmy
ownson? ”Manyt i
mes, whensi tuationsar oundusdonotseem t oalignwi ththe
promiseswehav ereceivedweembodyt hisat t
itude.West arttoaski ft hepromi secan
comet rue, giventhesituati
onweseear oundus.Weal soaski fthepr omi sei sstil
lval
id
orshoul dweshi f
tourexpect ati
onssl ight l
yt osui twhatweseear oundus.

Whatweneedt olearnisthatwecannotbaseourf ai
thint
hepromiseonthethingsthat
wesee.Questioningthesituat i
oninwhicht
hepr omiseismeanttohappeniscompletel
y
natur
albutweshoul dnotl etwhatweseecor nerusintoquesti
oni
ngtheint
enti
onsof
theGodwhogav ethepr omi se.I
nMatthew7:11,Jesuspoint
soutthat“
ifwe,asbadas
wear e,
sti
l
ldesiretogi v
egoodgi ft
stoourownchi l
drenhowmuchmor edoest heFather
desir
etogivegoodt hingst othosewhoask?”

Weshouldal
sotr
ustthatGod’
swordachi
eveswhati
tissentt
oachi
eve.I
sai
ah55:
10-
11
put
sitacr
osssobeauti
ful
lyasi
tsay
s:

“Astherai
nandthesnowcomedownf r
om heaven,
anddonotr et
urntoitwit
hout
wateri
ngtheear
thandmakingi
tbudandfl
ouri
sh,sothatity
iel
dsseedforthesower
andbreadfort
heeatersoi
smywordthatgoesoutfrom mymouth:Itwi
llnotret
urnt
o
meempt ybutwil
laccompl
i
shwhatIdesi
reandachievethepur
poseforwhichIsenti
t.
”

2.Wet
ryt
o“hel
pGod”t
ospeedupt
hepr
ocess.
Aclassiccaseoft hi
scomes, agai
n, f
rom thefatheroffai
thhimsel f.Real
izi
ngthatshe
waspastchi ld-
bear i
ngageshedev isedapr ett
ydecentplan,accor dingtothesocietyof
theti
me-gi vi
ngAbr aham herserv
antsoshecoul dbearachi l
df orthem (Genesi
s16: 1-
2).That,howev er,wasnothowGodi ntendedtof ul
fi
lthepromiseandt hi
sbecamecl ear
whent heirsubstit
uteplanbecameapr oblem.Whi l
ethisi
ncidentseemsabi textr
eme,
thi
sshoul dbeal essont ous:Whatwedev iseforoursel
ves,outsideofGod’ spl
an, wil
l
l
eadt omor epr oblemsthansoluti
ons.
 Pr
over
bs19:
21say
s:

“
Manyar
ethepl
ansi
naper
son’
shear
t,buti
tist
heLor
d’spur
poset
hatpr
evai
l
s.”

Whenwebel i
eveinGod’spromi se,
weshoul dalsober eadyt osubmi ttoHiswil
l.Whil
e
Godisgr aci
ousenought oall
owcer tai
nchoiceswemakeout si
deofHi sperf
ectwill
to
becov er
edbyHi sgraceandleadus, somewhat ,onthesamepat h,
itisbestt
oal ways
ai
mt obewi thi
nHisper f
ectwill
.Wewi l
lnotal
way smaket hemar kbutweshoul d
constant
lyseekitbyprayi
ngf orguidancebeforeweact .I
ti salsoagoodr efl
ecti
onof
howmuchwet r
ustinGod.Ifwef ull
ytrustHim andhisabi l
it
ies,wehav enoreasonto
actoutsi
deofHi swill
inordertohelpHi mfulf
il
l t
hepromi se.

3.West
opbel
iev
ingi
nthepr
omi
seent
ir
ely
.
ThereisastoryoftheShunammi t
ewomanwhowasv i
sit
edbyElisha(2Ki ngs4:8-
17).
Herlif
ewaspr et
tygoodandshewasav er
ykindwomanwhoputupar oom inherhouse
forEli
shatostaywheneverhewasi ntown.Torepayherhospital
i
tyElishadecidedtodo
somet hi
ngforher
.Recognizi
ngthatshehadnoson, t
heprophetrecognizedadesire
thatshehadlonggivenupon.Shehadgi venupont hi
shopesomuchsot hatshedi
d
notwantitawakenwhent heprophetpromisedhershewi l
lhaveason( 4:16).

Iknowt i
mesI’vebeeni nhershoes–wher eyoustopbel i
evingthatsomeoft he
promi sesarejustnotfory ou,feari
ngt hatifyoucontinuetobelieveinthem y ou’
ll
continuetobehur tbyt hedisappoi nt
mentoft hepromisenotbei ngfulf
il
ledandy ou
comet oter
mswi t
hy oursituati
onsucht hatyoubecomecomf ortabl
einit.Sometimes
wedonotgi veupent ir
elybutwehav et hat“God,youcandoi ti
fy ouwant ”kindof
atti
tude.Thepr obl
em ist hatifiti
saneedt hatGodhasputony ourheartthroughthe
wordHehaspr omised,itwillnotjustsimplypassaway .Thatfalsecontentmentalways
comesbackt ohauntusandst ealourpeace.Thati sn’twhatGodi nt
endsf orus.

I
nMar k9,Jesusoncedeal twit
hamanwi thsuchanatti
tudewhenhebr oughthis
tr
oubledsontoJesus.I nresponset ohi
splea,Jesussays:
“‘I
fyoucan’
?Ev ery
thingispossibleforonewhobel i
eves.
”
Thisshowsusthatt heonusr estsonust okeepbeli
evi
ngint hepromisesofGod.Al so,
Godbeingthekindoff atherHeis,Hewant stomakesur ethatyourdesir
esar emet .
Noneistoodiff
icul
tf orHimt ofulf
il
.He“isabletomakeallgraceaboundt oyou, t
hat
you,al
wayshavingal lsuff
ici
encyinallt
hings,mayaboundt oeverygoodwor k.”

Theseat t
it
udesar eonesIbelievethatatsomepointofourfai
thwer each.We, however,needto
fi
ghtagainstsucht houghtsandattit
udesusingGod’swordandthegui danceoftheHol ySpir
it
.
I
tisi r
oni
ct hatIwasl edbacktoGod’ spr
omiseswhileIwaslooki
ngf orway st
oaddr essthese
di
fficul
ti
esofwai t
ingonHi spr omi
ses.Ihavefoundthatdr
awingclosert oGodwhi l
eyouwai t
onHi spromi sesr
eallyhel
psy oushapetherightat
ti
tudeandperspecti
v e.Maybethatisthe
purposeoft hewait.

NextSundayIwil
ltakeal
ookatwhatwecandowhi
lewewai
t.YoungDavid’
sjourneyt
othe
t
hroneisajour
neyIadmir
eandIwillbedr
awi
ngupsomel
essonsfrom hi
m.Pleasesubscr
ibe
t
othebl
ogt
okeepupt
odat
ewi
tht
heupcomi
ngpost
s.Hav
eagr
eatweek!