TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL PASSAGE

DEVOTIONAL

by Sandra Chua

They didn’t have the Bible in Abraham’s time. But God periodically sent prophets and angels to deliver His messages and His promises. It has been more than two decades of waiting. Abraham and Sarah were old and past child-bearing age. Sarah even gave her maidservant Hagar, thinking it would still be their offspring since that was the custom at that time.

Finally, the fulfillment of the promise of descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky has finally come. God’s time has come. Why didn’t it come sooner when they were younger? Why didn’t God give them a head start by giving them dozens of children to begin with? Why the long wait? God’s ways are higher than ours. The birth at an old age was to show God’s power over the physical body. The long wait was a test of faith wherein they tried to assist in the fulfillment of the promise using generally accepted methods at that time. God used the wrong decision to contrast man’s effort with God’s promise. Galatians 4:23 The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.

I have these prayers in God’s filing cabinet. I submitted them years ago, and I have followed them up every now and then. These are prayers for my loved ones to be saved. The Bible says that if we ask anything according to His will, it will be done for us (cf. 1 John 5:14). Again, we are told in 2 Peter 3:9 that He doesn’t want anyone to perish but for everyone to come to repentance. I’m holding on to those truths. I believe in the appointed time,  God will answer and fulfill His promises.

REFLECTION

What promises of God are you waiting for Him to fulfill? How can you hold on to your faith while waiting for God’s timing?

PRAYER