Before You See It
“We call Abraham “father” not because he got God’s attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn’t that what we’ve always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, “I set you up as father of many peoples”? Abraham was first named “father” and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do…” – Romans 4:17 (MSG)
https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Romans%204%3A17
Since before the beginning of this year, whether following the Gregorian or Hebrew calendar, many of us have been declaring and acknowledging that this year is a year of new beginnings, open doors, and lots of other significant expectations for this year. For some of us we have seen that play out in many instances already, while others are still looking for, waiting for, and hoping for the “new” to begin or show up in some way, shape, or form. Maybe you are hoping for a new job, new relationship(s), new items to replace the old or just new things that you never had or experienced ever before. The good news is that there is still plenty of year left for these new things desired or needed to happen. In the midst of waiting take a cue from the Apostle Paul, who expresses in Romans 4:17 to express faith, like Abraham did before you see the results.
This does not mean to simply mean to say good things and hope that they happen, any superstitious person can do that. Nope this requires trust in God to keep His promises, trust in God that He truly is a good Father and will be good to us as His children, and willingness to take His word as reality above anything we see, think, hear, or experience. Abraham is not called the Father of Faith just because he had a spiritual encounter with God and received a promise. He is called the Father of Faith because after receiving the promise from God he kept believing it would come to pass for years beyond it would be naturally possible to happen. He made space in his life for that promise to come to pass as if it was a sure thing that was definitely going to take place, leaving no room for doubt or unbelief.
If you know the story of Abraham and Sarah, then you also know that their faith walk was not perfect by any means. After waiting for so long and still without child Sarah and Abraham attempted to bring the promise to pass out of their own strength and resources. It resulted in a terrible ordeal for Hagar – Sarah’s handmaiden, and produced Ishmael – who is the father of many of the nations that oppose and resist Israel to this very day. So perfection is not required in obtaining the promise, but faithfulness is. If you feel doubt start to creep in or realize that you are attempting to bring your God-given promise to pass in your own strength, just get rid of the doubt and return to believing and trusting God first and most for His word to come to pass in your life. If you have created some “Ishmaels” seek the Lord on what needs to be done concerning that and obey what God says.
Another characteristic Abraham displayed throughout all of this is humility. He was willing to leave all that he was familiar with and believe for something that seemed impossible to happen at the Word of the Lord. A lot of people would see the obedience in what Abraham did and miss humility in it. It is possible to be obedience without being humble. It is possible to do what God asks or requires of you, but be grumbling, complaining, feeling victimized, or resisting what needs to happen at every turn. And yes, even out of that type of obedience one can still obtain the promise, but in many cases – like the children of Israel found out, God is not pleased with that type of attitude. He will not ever take back His promises from us, but because of free will granted to all men, He will not force us to receive the blessings He prepared for us. It took humility for Abraham to act on God’s word and to take it as truth when there was no natural, logical reason to do so. It took humility to wait for so long for it to come to pass when biologically there was no way it could happen. It took humility to admit that they made bad choices in attempting to bring the promise to pass on their own and to allow God to “course correct” them and put them back on the right path. It took humility to keep saying yes to God, even when they had not yet obtained the promise. Take a moment and prayerfully check your humility levels, ask God to replenish and refill you wherever you need it.
Also activate the Resurrection power of Jesus Christ over your promises, especially those that you have been waiting a long time to come into fruition. There are many examples of resurrection in the Bible, the most notable one is of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is no coincidence, God is making it very clear that He is the one that brings life to dead situations. If you not sure how to do this seek the Lord concerning promises and dreams that you have given up on or lost interest in. Ask Him if it is His will that you fulfill them, when and how. Keep praying about it until you get definite peace on whether to pursue it further or to let it go. Please not that letting it go does not always mean that it will never happen, it just means that God want you to focus your attention elsewhere that is relevant to what He is doing where you are right now.
Lastly, see yourself in the Promised Land. What will it be like when God brings the new to pass? What will it feel like to be in a new place or relationship? If you feel blocked and cannot imagine it, start praising God for it anyway. If it really is a new thing you may have no idea of what impact it will have in your life, but it’s still ok to dream with God and to see His goodness, love, and faithfulness towards you even before the new thing happens. If warfare is on every side, like is usually is before a blessing released for some people, praise God in advance! Praise is what usually decided the outcome of the war, and opened the opportunity to receive the accompanying spoils.
Let’s Pray: Father God thank You for Your faithfulness and loving-kindness to us. Lord thank You for the new things that You have already released into our lives and for those new things that are on the way. Thank you for encouraging us to keep moving forward into the prepared place You made available to us. Lord. Lord help us not to faint or fall short of obtaining every promise that You gave to us personally or in Your Word corporately. Lord we acknowledge that the promises are for us to enjoy, but more importantly to reveal Your Glory in the earth to all generations. Lord God help us to remember that Your Son Jesus Christ died and arose so that it would be possible for us to partake of the promises that You desire to release to us. Lord please cover our families, loved ones, and all connected to us that they would receive the promises as well. Lord we lift up those that do not know how to contend for the promise and are feeling like giving up. Lord we ask You to strengthen them, set them free from fear, disappointment, discouragement, and self-reliance and help them to trust and rely fully in You in the mighty name of Jesus. Lord thank You for hearing our prayers and for answering and being with us in every phase of promise fulfillment. Lord please release You Holy angels to minister, war, contend, and bring in resources on our behalf as we worship, praise, pray, and continue to trust in You in the name of Jesus. Lord thank you for all of this and Your intercession for us daily in the mighty name of Jesus AMEN!
Thank you for reading and please share this blog post with anyone who is waiting for the new or for a promise from God!
Blessings Always ♥♥♥,
Dionne Renae
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Lessons 'n Blessings 