“He has granted us His precious and magnificent promises…” 2 Peter 1:4a
Most of us, at any given point in life, are waiting for something.
What are you waiting for today? Some are anticipating things like
graduation, retirement, marriage, family, or a new job. Others pray and
wait for healing from physical problems or reconciliation in
relationships. Some just want something exciting to happen. Whatever we
may be hoping for, we are in a season of waiting… often waiting for God
to fulfill His promises.
Many of us are praying for God to send revival. That is a promise He has made, and we keep praying and expecting it to happen, but the wait is long. Perhaps the wait is long for you, in whatever promise you are waiting for God to keep. I recently read a quote that went something like this: When God seems to be taking a long time to answer your prayers and do what He promised, don’t be discouraged. Instead, rejoice! Because with each passing day, you are getting closer to the day when He will fulfill His promise.
The apostle Peter writes a similar encouragement in his second letter: “The Lord is not slow about His promises, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Notice that Peter says God is patient with us. Wait a second -- we are the ones who are waiting on Him! Why does He need to be patient with us? Because in every season of waiting, God has a perfect reason for delaying His answer. He knows we’re waiting. He hears our prayers. He knows that it seems to us like He’s taking way too long. But, as Peter writes, “Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day” (2 Peter 3:8). The Father’s eyes are not like ours -- He has a special point of view and can see your whole life in one glance. For every moment, day, month, or year that He delays in fulfilling His promises to us, there is a reason. There is something He needs to accomplish before the good thing comes. That’s why God is patient with us as we wait for Him… because we must cooperate with the preparatory work He’s doing in our hearts and lives while we wait.
During the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments, the Israelites were waiting for their Messiah to come. They had finally turned away from idols to worship the true God. But during that long, dark time of silence and waiting, instead of seeking God, they developed their expectations of what the Messiah would be and do. They began to look for the man who would meet their human expectations of the Promised One…and many of them missed Jesus altogether. It’s a warning to us -- what God has promised to do may not and probably won’t look just like we expect it to. As we think and pray and look forward to the end of our waiting season, we must not allow our human expectations to cause us to miss the greater things God does.
We’re all waiting, but let’s not be discouraged. If God has made a promise, He will keep it. Let’s notice and cooperate with what He’s doing now while we wait, and look ahead to the fulfillment of His promise and rejoice. If we stop and look, this waiting season can be just as beautiful as the next season.
“Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, they shout joyfully together; for they will see with their own eyes when the Lord restores Zion” (Isaiah 52:8).
This is the Sept issue of a monthly devotional written by my daughter, Ashley.
Many of us are praying for God to send revival. That is a promise He has made, and we keep praying and expecting it to happen, but the wait is long. Perhaps the wait is long for you, in whatever promise you are waiting for God to keep. I recently read a quote that went something like this: When God seems to be taking a long time to answer your prayers and do what He promised, don’t be discouraged. Instead, rejoice! Because with each passing day, you are getting closer to the day when He will fulfill His promise.
The apostle Peter writes a similar encouragement in his second letter: “The Lord is not slow about His promises, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Notice that Peter says God is patient with us. Wait a second -- we are the ones who are waiting on Him! Why does He need to be patient with us? Because in every season of waiting, God has a perfect reason for delaying His answer. He knows we’re waiting. He hears our prayers. He knows that it seems to us like He’s taking way too long. But, as Peter writes, “Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day” (2 Peter 3:8). The Father’s eyes are not like ours -- He has a special point of view and can see your whole life in one glance. For every moment, day, month, or year that He delays in fulfilling His promises to us, there is a reason. There is something He needs to accomplish before the good thing comes. That’s why God is patient with us as we wait for Him… because we must cooperate with the preparatory work He’s doing in our hearts and lives while we wait.
During the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments, the Israelites were waiting for their Messiah to come. They had finally turned away from idols to worship the true God. But during that long, dark time of silence and waiting, instead of seeking God, they developed their expectations of what the Messiah would be and do. They began to look for the man who would meet their human expectations of the Promised One…and many of them missed Jesus altogether. It’s a warning to us -- what God has promised to do may not and probably won’t look just like we expect it to. As we think and pray and look forward to the end of our waiting season, we must not allow our human expectations to cause us to miss the greater things God does.
We’re all waiting, but let’s not be discouraged. If God has made a promise, He will keep it. Let’s notice and cooperate with what He’s doing now while we wait, and look ahead to the fulfillment of His promise and rejoice. If we stop and look, this waiting season can be just as beautiful as the next season.
“Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, they shout joyfully together; for they will see with their own eyes when the Lord restores Zion” (Isaiah 52:8).
This is the Sept issue of a monthly devotional written by my daughter, Ashley.
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