I’m waiting. Something I just am not good at doing. I have no doubt that God is trying to teach me patience and increase my faith in Him. Still, that doesn’t seem to make the waiting any easier. I get frustrated so easily.
Five years. Five years of praying for one specific thing and it seems to finally be within reach. Oh so close. For months now it has been “oh, so close.” Ups and downs. It’s going to happen. It’s not going to happen. Maybe it’s going to happen. And here we are. We will know something one way or the other by the beginning of next week at the latest.
And so…I’m waiting.
And, as I’m waiting, my thoughts turn to Abraham. I have a fondness for Abraham…always have. I have always been in awe of faith and trust that would cause a person to leave all they know and just go.
God told Abram: Leave your country, your family and your father’s home for a land I will show you. – Genesis 12:1
Now, seriously, if this were my story I can tell you what the next verses would have looked like:
Genesis 12:2…Then Stacy replied:
- Okay, God, where are we going?
- What are we going to do when we get there?
- What all can I take with me?
- When you say “leave my father’s home”…can I bring my father with me?
But, thank goodness, this is not the story of Stacy. This is Abraham and I love his response.
So Abram left just as God said…Genesis 12:4
He just left. Just like that. You want me to leave, God? Okay. Point me in the right direction and I’ll just keep walking until you tell me to stop. Such faith! A knowledge and belief that God would never lead him astray. I want faith like that.
This week, as I begin again an attempt to read the entire Bible, I am reading Genesis and am once again reading the story of Abraham. I’m struck by, not only his willingness to leave all, but how long he waited for the fulfillment of God’s promise to him.
Abraham is 75 years old when he arrives in Canaan and the Lord tells him…”to your descendants I will give this land.” Now Abraham, of course, was married to Sarah and they were childless. So, Abraham did not fully understand this promise. In fact, after being in Canaan for 10 years, Abraham and Sarah try to fulfill God’s promise themselves by Abraham having a child with Hagar. But, that was not how God intended to bring about Abraham’s descendents.
It was not until Abraham was 100 years old that Isaac was born. That is 25 years after he was promised that the land of Canaan would be given to his descendents. 25 years.
And, so, I wait. I wait in the knowledge that God knows what He is doing. I believe those who wait with patience and faith are rewarded.
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord. ~Psalm 27:13-14
