Delayed Promises

Delayed Promises

I was 17 years old when I heard the call of God in a powerful way.  I knew that the Lord was asking me to commit my life to His service. Excitement gripped me. Passion filled my heart. My every decision was being measured by this new “call” to impact the world for Christ. My mind swirled with the endless possibilities of how this impact would be realized. Maybe as a writer or an author of a best-selling book. Possibly as a teacher or educator who dramatically shapes the next generation. Surely as a pastor of a large congregation that touches an entire community. What I did know, is that my dreams were large and this call was going to make a difference.  After all, I had been called by the Lord.

That was almost 20 years ago and things have not worked out like I thought or dreamed they would. In many ways I’m still waiting for the dream/promise to be fulfilled. Now questions fill my mind and doubt has entered into my heart. Did I hear the Lord correctly? Have I missed a key step along the path? Did I do something wrong? Has the Lord forgotten me?  Since the Lord is faithful and His words are never void this delay must clearly be a problem on my end, right?

I am sure that Abraham must have felt the same way. We are introduced to his story in Genesis 15 with the promise of a great reward and descendants as numerous as the stars. The problem?  Abraham is roughly 76 years old and has no son of his own.

Abraham hears this promise and is excited and instantly believes (Gen. 15:6). I am sure he runs home and tells his wife of this amazing conversation with God Himself. I am sure his heart is burning within him as he shares the news with his beloved that the thing they have been waiting for their entire life will soon come to fulfillment. Or will it?

Genesis 15 ends with Abraham having this amazing conversation with God.  But problems have already begun in the very next chapter. “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children.” (Gen. 16:1).

How can this be? Didn’t we just read about God solving the bareness problem by promising this couple a child? They had been living in the land of Canaan for 10 years, waiting for the promise to happen. They feel that they have waited long enough!  Their humanity intervenes and they develop a plan to “help” the Lord fulfill His promise. Sarah has Abraham conceive a son with her Egyptian maidservant, Hagar.   

Ever tried to “help God out”?  That never goes well.  We have a tendency to take what the Lord has spoken to us and choose to interpret when and how it will come into being. Sarah had decided that 10 years of waiting was long enough and she took matters into her own hands. I know that I have done the same thing in my own life. Looked long and hard at a situation and then attempted to manipulate it into a more favorable one through the help of my own intervention.

It would be another 14 years before Abraham and Sarah receive another word that they will have a son by the next year.  Abraham’s faith was wavering.  “Will a child be born to a man 100 years old? And will Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child.” (Gen. 17:17). But what amazes me is that despite the doubt that lingered in his heart, Abraham does not hesitate to obey when God then directs him to establish the covenant of circumcision. (Gen. 17:23).  Though he was weary from waiting and struggling with doubt, Abraham still chooses obedience to God.

Abraham was 76 years old when he God promised him a son. He was 86 years old when he and Sarah had decided to “help” God bring this birth about with Hagar. And he is 100 years old when the actual fulfillment of the promise occurs with the birth of Isaac! 24 years of waiting for the “call” to be fulfilled. 24 years of doubts and concerns as to whether they heard Him correctly. 24 years of expectations falling by the wayside.

What was so surprising to me about this story was the delay in God’s fulfillment of the promise. I don’t know about you, but I struggle with expectations that create a wonderful and convenient timetable for fulfilling God’s promises to us. However, God does not seem to be getting the memo.

As I re-read this story of Abraham and Sarah I found a tremendous amount of encouragement and peace. God’s “call” on their lives was true. His fulfillment did happen. And they did correctly hear what He had called them to all those years before. However, there was a timing issue that was absolutely critical to its fulfillment.  God is a God of the journey and not just the destination. Who Abraham and Sarah are at the birth of Isaac is not who they were 24 years earlier. They have been shaped by circumstances and situations that directly prepared them for this time and this place. They have faith and act on their obedience, even when they do not see the answers. 

I must trust and believe that God is doing the same thing in my life. Although there seems to be delay, I choose to see the shaping and molding that is making us ready for the day when the fulfillment will come to absolute fruition!