Through all of the craziness of the past two weeks, including working full-time and taking two fairly demanding Grad. classes, God has still managed to break through the busyness and quiet my heart to hear His calling. Lately there has been a question at the forefront of my mind, so naturally...I would like to pass it along to you: What is the one thing that you desperately hope God never asks you to do? You may be thinking something like, "gee I hope God never asks me to give up watching Phineas and Ferb!", or maybe "God better not ask me to stop eating chocolate!" (I may or may not be guilty of the second one...) I'm being slightly facetious, but I hope you're really thinking about this. Most of you are probably thinking of something much more serious than the above examples. What if God asked you to sell all of your possessions and move to Asia to do missions work? Or what if, like Abraham, God asked you to give up your own son? The last two questions are probably unthinkable for most everyone.
I'd like to ask you to look at the story of Abraham with me. In Genesis 12 verse 1 God says to Abraham (Abram at the time), "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you." Then amazingly enough in verse 4 it says, "So Abram went, as the LORD had told him." WOW! What an amazing faith. When God said GO, Abraham WENT!
Later on, after Abraham's promised son Isaac was a little older, God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as an offering to the Him. So what did Abraham do? He took Isaac up on top of a mountain and was about to kill him when God stopped Abraham, providing a lamb instead. The father of the Israelites really did have a miraculous faith that most of us can only dream of having.
You all know the story of Abraham, so where am I going with all of this? Well, let me ask you another question. At what point in the story did Abraham "mess up"? God told him to go and he went, told him to sacrifice his son and he almost did, but when was Abraham's faith in God's promise REALLY tested?
During the wait.
It was after God had made the promise and before it was fulfilled that Abraham took matters into his own hands and slept with Hagar. God told Abraham he would have descendants as numerous as the stars!!! But with no children, that promise must have seemed pretty bleak. So during the waiting, Abraham and Sarah lost sight of the promise. They lost faith that God would come through in His perfect time.
In my humble opinion, the only thing harder than going is waiting. How nice it is when God has a plan and we know exactly what His plan is! How relieving it is when we have something tangible to do, or to hold on to. Our faith, however, is truly tested during the times in between. Will we hold true to our faith and trust that God will bring about fulfillment of His promises even when we can't see the end, or even the next step? Even Jesus had to wait until the proper time. In John 2:4 He says, "my hour has not yet come". You see, God will eventually call all of us to something if we have dedicated our lives to Him. But I can guarantee He will also call all of us to wait.
Right now I hear God telling me to wait. I had the time of my life in Africa, and I often wish I were back there because it felt like I was DOING something. I just have to have faith and hold to God's promise that He will continue to lead me into His will for my life. I want to encourage all of you who are also called to wait. Don't lose sight of the promise. Keep your eyes on the prize, and God will reward you richly in HIS time.
If you have a spare minute, please watch the video below because I know it will encourage you as it did me.
"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." -Psalm 27:14
