Waiting for His Promise

Hebrews10:36.  This week we will be focusing on a topic which has been of importance to everyone who has developed a relationship with God. Every believer knows that while some prayers are speedily answered, some others take time. This time of waiting can be hard and frustrating without the help of God. We see different examples in the Scriptures of how people handled the waiting time between the receiving of a promise and its fulfilment. We see Abraham yielding to persuasions from his wife to find an alternative solution to the problem of barrenness after a long wait for the promise.

Also, King Saul was instructed by Samuel to wait for him to return and offer a sacrifice to God. He bowed, however, to pressure from the people and offered the sacrifice himself. He did this so as not to look bad before the people.

These were God-fearing people who at a critical point in their lives yielded to pressure and made mistakes with long lasting repercussions. Our enemy, the devil, has not changed his tactics and we would be wise to learn from these biblical examples in order to learn how to overcome him. Only with the Holy Spirit’s help can we wait in patience till God’s promises for our lives are fulfilled. ‘For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise’. Hebrews 10:36.

We will look at this under the following headings:

• The Timing Of God’s Promises
• Waiting For The Promises
• Knowing The Time Of Your Visitation

 The Timing Of God’s Promises

Many times in the Scriptures, we see examples of prophecy/promises made to an individual such as Abraham. Even though the promise made to Abraham was very real, there was an appointed time for that promise to come to pass. Yes, Sarah’s womb was dead and all natural and scientific laws showed that it was impossible for God’s promise to be fulfilled, but at the appointed time it came to pass, and the Word of God was on course to make the promise good. Habakkuk 2:3 says ‘For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry’. We need to know when God is saying "Wait for it". There is an appointed time for every promise and fretting will not bring it closer. Rather, we need to find out what the Lord will have us do during the waiting time. We also need to be careful what we do at these times because then the flesh (our minds) will come up with all sorts of man-made solutions that are not God’s will. Depression and impatience also contest for our attention and as Sarah experienced, the enemy influences people to taunt us. Some well-meaning people, and all too often Christian brethren alike, show no sympathy, which can add to the unhappiness we experience during this period.

Waiting for The Promises

In this difficult period, it is essential for us to keep our communication lines with God open. There is a tendency to retreat into unhappiness; we must fight against such a tendency. We need to go back to God when we are feeling discouraged and receive faith and strength to proceed. Different kinds of advice will come at these times but you need God’s Spirit to help you weed out which ones are from the enemy. Regularly, we need to check and make sure we are walking with God so we do not miss God’s time.

Knowing The Time of Visitation

Is it possible to miss the time of fulfilment of God’s promises for our lives? Yes it is. Jesus wept over the coming destruction of Jerusalem which was going to happen because the people did not know the time of their visitation. The book of Daniel tells us that 70 years had been decreed by God as the period of the destruction of Jerusalem. However, it took a man like Daniel to search and ’understand by the books’ and then intercede, to bring this promise to pass. If he had not, the people would have continued in captivity as in the time of Moses. (They had spent an extra 30 years during the time of Moses under Pharaoh, even though 400 years was ordained by God). The Bible also says the sons of Issachar understood the times and knew what Israel ought to do. It is important to spend time with God and know what the Spirit is saying for the hour.

I have heard God say to me in response to complaints to Him about an unfulfilled promise, "Whose time is it?" The truth is our times are in His hands and He knows the right time to bring a blessing to pass in our lives. He has also told me that the greatest treasure I have is ‘His Presence’. It is more important than any earthly blessing. I would be a fool to lose His presence because of a delay in the fulfilment of a promise. The three Hebrew children had found out this great truth when they told Nebuchadnezzar, "Even if our God does not deliver us, we will not bow to your idols".

Remain blessed and highly favoured. 

Titi Obishai (MRS)