"God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?" ~Numbers 23:19
I was sitting on the couch watching what has become my favorite Netflix series, Charmed, when I began to think about the dreams and visions God has given me. This particular episode also made me think of the promises that God has made to me. It was so relatable that it actually made me cry and slip into a little pity party.
Phoebe had been given a very beautiful vision of finding love and having a child in the previous season of the series. She had become so focused on that particular vision that she forgot what was absolutely the most important thing: using her gifts to save others.
As I watched this fictional character struggle with the pain of the battles she had fought so hard and the pain of her dreams not yet becoming a reality, I could identify with how she was feeling.
While I know God has made some promises to me about what He is going to do for me, I also know that He has made some promises about what He wants to do in and through me. What He is going to do for me requires very little work on my part, but what He wants to do in and through me is going to take some work, some sacrifice, and some discipline from me.
Recently, I recalled God’s promise to Abram (God had not yet changed his name to Abraham) in Genesis 17:1-2. In that verse God made a covenant with Abram, but in order for Him to receive the promise he had to do as God instructed him to do. I pondered this for a while and came to the understanding that sometimes before we receive a specific promise from God, we have to do a specific work for God. Many times it takes action on our parts to get to the place that God promises us (Genesis 12:1-3).
Four years ago God instructed me to tell my story with a spirit of transparency through writing. He made a promise to me that He would send me a husband who would support me in everything He called me to be and do.
For a long time I focused more on the promise than I did the work that The Promise Keeper had instructed me to do. I think I did this for two reasons: 1. it was so much easier to focus on the glam of the promise, and 2. I didn’t think that I had what it would take to carry out the assignment God had given me.
Isn’t it so much like us to want to receive the reward without putting in the work? Furthermore, isn’t it so much like us to focus so much on the promise that we take our eyes off of the One who has made the promise?
I was so caught up on the promise and wasted so much precious time waiting for it to come, that I was set back so far from completing my assignment from God. I was so intently looking around for that promise to come true that I felt so unfulfilled because I felt like the promise was the way to satisfaction.
Oh how wrong I had been. The sense of purpose doesn’t come from the promise; instead, the fulfillment we so deeply long for comes through our relationship with our Father. In doing the work of God, our relationship with Him is strengthened because we have to stay before Him in prayer and spend intimate time listening for His voice.
The other reason I did not move forward in my writing was because I didn’t believe that I had it in me to effectively tell my story and bring God glory through it. Even more, because I had been passed by, overlooked and failed in important areas of my life, why would anyone even pick up a book with my name written on it? To me, the fact that He would want to use me was unbelievable, laughable even.
Now that I think about it, in the moment of me hearing God’s call to write I was like Sarah in that I just didn’t believe that He was going to get glory from using me. Sarah overheard God telling Abraham that the season for His promise to Abraham and Sarah was here. Sarah laughed to herself because she didn’t believe that it was true. She was old and way past the child bearing age (Genesis 18:12).
Just like he posed this question to Sarah, I heard God ask me “Is there anything too hard for me (Genesis 18:14a)?”
God knows exactly what He is doing when He requires something of each of us. He knows what He has equipped us with, and He already has the plan laid out (Jeremiah 29:11). He already knew each and every way that we would fail in our lives before we were even born (Psalm 139:16). Every failed attempt, all of the hardships, and all of the obstacles prepare us to live out our God breathed dreams and visions. No matter how rough things may be in our lives, God purposes those things to be for our good to push us towards destiny (Romans 8:28).
It’s definitely a great thing to be excited about God’s promises to us, but we run the risk of taking our eyes off of what is truly the most important aspect of the promise…the work attached to that promise. Hold fast to the promises of God so you will have continued hope in Who He is and all that He can do. However, before allowing yourself to be so caught up on the promise, take the time to recall the One Who is the Promise Keeper.
Phoebe had been given a very beautiful vision of finding love and having a child in the previous season of the series. She had become so focused on that particular vision that she forgot what was absolutely the most important thing: using her gifts to save others.
As I watched this fictional character struggle with the pain of the battles she had fought so hard and the pain of her dreams not yet becoming a reality, I could identify with how she was feeling.
While I know God has made some promises to me about what He is going to do for me, I also know that He has made some promises about what He wants to do in and through me. What He is going to do for me requires very little work on my part, but what He wants to do in and through me is going to take some work, some sacrifice, and some discipline from me.
Recently, I recalled God’s promise to Abram (God had not yet changed his name to Abraham) in Genesis 17:1-2. In that verse God made a covenant with Abram, but in order for Him to receive the promise he had to do as God instructed him to do. I pondered this for a while and came to the understanding that sometimes before we receive a specific promise from God, we have to do a specific work for God. Many times it takes action on our parts to get to the place that God promises us (Genesis 12:1-3).
Four years ago God instructed me to tell my story with a spirit of transparency through writing. He made a promise to me that He would send me a husband who would support me in everything He called me to be and do.
For a long time I focused more on the promise than I did the work that The Promise Keeper had instructed me to do. I think I did this for two reasons: 1. it was so much easier to focus on the glam of the promise, and 2. I didn’t think that I had what it would take to carry out the assignment God had given me.
Isn’t it so much like us to want to receive the reward without putting in the work? Furthermore, isn’t it so much like us to focus so much on the promise that we take our eyes off of the One who has made the promise?
I was so caught up on the promise and wasted so much precious time waiting for it to come, that I was set back so far from completing my assignment from God. I was so intently looking around for that promise to come true that I felt so unfulfilled because I felt like the promise was the way to satisfaction.
Oh how wrong I had been. The sense of purpose doesn’t come from the promise; instead, the fulfillment we so deeply long for comes through our relationship with our Father. In doing the work of God, our relationship with Him is strengthened because we have to stay before Him in prayer and spend intimate time listening for His voice.
The other reason I did not move forward in my writing was because I didn’t believe that I had it in me to effectively tell my story and bring God glory through it. Even more, because I had been passed by, overlooked and failed in important areas of my life, why would anyone even pick up a book with my name written on it? To me, the fact that He would want to use me was unbelievable, laughable even.
Now that I think about it, in the moment of me hearing God’s call to write I was like Sarah in that I just didn’t believe that He was going to get glory from using me. Sarah overheard God telling Abraham that the season for His promise to Abraham and Sarah was here. Sarah laughed to herself because she didn’t believe that it was true. She was old and way past the child bearing age (Genesis 18:12).
Just like he posed this question to Sarah, I heard God ask me “Is there anything too hard for me (Genesis 18:14a)?”
God knows exactly what He is doing when He requires something of each of us. He knows what He has equipped us with, and He already has the plan laid out (Jeremiah 29:11). He already knew each and every way that we would fail in our lives before we were even born (Psalm 139:16). Every failed attempt, all of the hardships, and all of the obstacles prepare us to live out our God breathed dreams and visions. No matter how rough things may be in our lives, God purposes those things to be for our good to push us towards destiny (Romans 8:28).
It’s definitely a great thing to be excited about God’s promises to us, but we run the risk of taking our eyes off of what is truly the most important aspect of the promise…the work attached to that promise. Hold fast to the promises of God so you will have continued hope in Who He is and all that He can do. However, before allowing yourself to be so caught up on the promise, take the time to recall the One Who is the Promise Keeper.