Hebrews 10:23 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful".
As I always do at the beginning of every New Year, I like to take stock. Mostly I just do an audit of the goals I had written down for the previous year, I go through my Vision Board & tick off things I've accomplished and review those I'm yet to achieve and also compile my gratitude notes for the past year. This year was a bit different though - I found myself going through some promise notes from years back - as far back as 5 years ago. I looked at those promise notes which had what God had whispered during my Closet moments & others that my Spiritual Father had spoken over me. I had mixed emotions reading through them - there was a tinge of sadness mixed with gratitude. With a couple of tears rolling down my face, I whispered a Gratitude Prayer. I was grateful for what God had promised & even more grateful for the strength to keep holding on to the promises God made. I couldn't help but keep reciting Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a Son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
So in this week's devotion, I would want to encourage you that HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL. If you have promises that God has made, keep holding on to Him for He is faithful. God's word is His bond - Psalms 138:2 "For You have magnified Your word above all Your name". You can take whatever word/promise that God has given you and hold Him to account for even though it tarries, it shall surely come to pass. Ezekiel 12:25 "For I am the Lord. I speak, and the word which I speak will come pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the Word and perform it," Says the Lord God.
Waiting on God for His promises can be an uphill task and can test your patience & resolve, that's why I'd love to share what I have learnt over time as I wait.
Faith: Hebrews 11:1 "Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". You know it's virtually impossible to talk about faith without mentioning Abraham - The Father of Faith. Abraham waited a whole 25 years before the promised Son - Isaac- came. When Isaac finally came, God asked Abraham to sacrifice him & without hesitation, he obeyed. What manner of faith is that? Hebrews 11:19 "Concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead". When my time on this earth is done and I get to see Jesus, Abraham is one of the people I would really love for Him to introduce me to and just give like an entire day to spend with him cause I've got lots of questions for him. Good thing with faith, you don't need a whole truckload of faith to sustain you, even a teeny weeny bit of faith is good enough. Matthew 17:20 "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there', and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you".
Keep Your Heart In Check: As you wait on God for the fulfillment of His promises, keep the conversations in your heart pure. Jeremiah 17:9 -10 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of His doings". Guard your heart at all costs. Let your heart meditate on the promises of God and eventually your mouth will profess the same. Matthew 12:34 "For out of the abundance of the hart the mouth speaks".
Be Still: You know it's very tempting to try find alternative ways to fulfill the promises God has given forgetting that He is the owner of the blue print of exactly what he wants and how He wants it. Remember Sarah & Abraham - much as God had given Abraham a promise that he will be the father of many nations, Sarah was unable to give him a child so she offered to have Hagar sire children and perhaps she could build a family through her. Genesis 16:2 "The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her". Guess what, Ishmael was not God's plan for Abraham to have the promise fulfilled. He had to contend with the disunity between Sarah & Hagar and eventually was forced to send her away. Thing is, if you try help God achieve His promises over your life, you just bring trouble and consequences that you will be dealing with which you can avoid by just being Still. Psalms 46:10 " Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth".
Most importantly, maintain a posture of prayer. Let your prayer life be as healthy as can be. Always talk to God about what He has promised. Keep professing that you believe in His timing for in due time, He indeed shall make all things beautiful. I must admit that it is not easy to wait on God. I pray that God may renew your strength when you feel weary and are almost giving up, may you have faith that can move mountains as you wait on God.
I am persuaded that He who promised is faithful.
Lord thank you for the beautiful reminder this week that You are a promise keeper. Thank you that you are faithful. We hold on to the promises you have given us. Though some have tarried, we have confidence that in due time, You shall make everything beautiful. I pray for strengthening of our faith. In moments where we waiver and cannot seem to see hope in our situations, may we feel Your embrace & an overflow of your love. We have confidence in you. We trust You.
In Jesus Name. Amen
