God of Promise

Photo by Liv Bruce

The LORD graciously remembered and visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for her as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time which God had spoken to him.

Genesis 21:1-2 AMP

After waiting for the promise for a long time, it came a time when God fulfilled His promise to Sarah. He did what He had said He would do.

Take away:

A personal God

We are told that God graciously remembered Sarah. Even though God initially gave this promise to Abraham, we can see here that it was also a promise to Sarah. He is a personal God. He remembers what He has personally spoken to us. It doesn’t matter if it concerns a relationship, or a group of people, the promise has to be personal because God relates to us individually. Even though the promise was for both of them, Sarah had to participate by faith and believe God for the promise as if it was hers alone. She could have hidden behind Abraham’s faith, but she doesn’t. She has to deal with her unbelief ( Genesis 18:9-15) and get to a place where she personally believed God for this promise. God responds to Sarah’s faith by keeping His promise.

In the waiting

Just because we have been given promises doesn’t mean that there won’t be seasons where we have to wait. If we read Genesis 21:1 without reading Genesis 12-18, We will miss to understand the process that got Sarah to Genesis 21:1. Before we can receive the promise we have to go through the process of waiting for the promise.

The psalmist is familiar with waiting. Wait for and confidently expect the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for and confidently expect the LORD. Psalm 27:14 AMP

In a season where he is waiting on God, the psalmist teaches us something that we have to remind our hearts to wait upon the LORD. Speak to your discouraged heart like the psalmist! We have to be intentional and do it with a confident expectation. The psalmist was probably going through a difficult season where he was discouraged concerning the promise of God. However, he doesn’t allow himself to keep going down that road. He begins to order his heart to continue believing and waiting confidently on God.

We have to keep believing that God will fulfill His promises to us. We have to keep the faith even when we can’t see the promise. Even when we feel like God has forgotten about us. If we don’t faint, we will get to the place where God graciously remembers us like He did Sarah.

Tree of life

There is something I have learnt in my journey with God. I cannot hold God hostage to the promises He has given to me. I have to release them and allow Him to fulfill them in His timing. If we hold on to a promise becoming fulfilled and it doesn’t happen at the time we expect it to, we are going to live disappointed lives. If we want to live full lives even in the midst of our waiting, we have to allow God to give us a tree of life that fuels our faith for the promise. A desire fulfilled is a tree of life. proverbs 13:12b

God will consistently refresh our faith by giving us other desires in the midst of our waiting. He will give us tiny miracles as we wait for the big miracle. This is what becomes a tree of life for us to help us keep on waiting for the big promises. He is not unfaithful; He will remind you of His faithfulness through tiny stuff. If you will look for the tree of life in your life, you will be able to keep going until you see the promise you have been waiting for.

Maybe you have been waiting to have a child, but God has given you a great marriage and that is your tree of life in the waiting. Maybe you have been waiting for a dream to be fulfilled but God has answered other prayers that have given you hope that the dream will be fulfilled. Maybe, you have been waiting to get married, but your tree of life is that God has given you great friends in this season. Maybe you are waiting for healing or restoration, and your tree of life is, God is doing it little by little. Celebrate the tiny victories and let them become your tree of life in the waiting.

We all have some things in our lives that stand as testaments of the faithfulness of God. Sometimes, we cannot see the miracles God has given to us because we are holding Him hostage to the thing that hasn’t been fulfilled yet. If we’ll begin to look for what He is doing in the midst of our waiting, we’ll have the courage to keep waiting on God because we see our tree of life.

Every promise will be fulfilled

God was faithful to fulfill to Sarah what He had promised. God’s faithfulness to others serves as our encouragement to believe that he will do the same for you.

I love this statement. Not one of all the good things that the LORD had promised to the house of Israel failed. Every promise was fulfilled. Joshua 21:45

ICB says…He kept every promise he had made to the Israelites. No promise failed. Each one came true.

This word remains true for each one of us. God will keep every promise He has made to you, and none of it will fail. But we have to be careful that we are not holding God hostage to promises He never gave to us. If He promised it, He will fulfill it.