Have you ever started reading a book and, after a couple of chapters, flipped over to the last chapter to at least read the last page? You’ve only read two chapters and you can already tell that this may not end well.
The struggles and suspense can be handled much easier if you know how the story ends. The problem is living in your present chapter when you don’t know how the next chapter is going to turn out.
One of the most difficult places to live is between the promise and the prize.
Comfort zones are seldom created in construction zones.
In Genesis, Chapter 12, Abraham (then known as Abram) was seventy-five years old. God called him to leave his homeland and journey to a land He would show him.
God: “Go, Abram.”
Abram: “Go where, God?”
God: “I’ll show you.”
God promised him, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great.”
God also promised him a son in Genesis, Chapter 17, but it wasn’t until Chapter 21 that Isaac was born.
It’s easy for us to read through these chapters and think, “Wow! That’s a great story.”
It’s easy for us because we can read how the story ends.
But what about Abraham and Sarah? They didn’t have Chapter 21 and had no way of knowing how this story would end. It was twenty-five years after Abraham received God’s promise until Isaac was born. Yes, twenty-five years, and if you’re familiar with Abraham’s story, you know that from Chapter 12 to Chapter 21 was definitely not a straight line.
Perhaps you’re in a situation now that is requiring you to live in the gap, the gap between the promise and the prize. Maybe you’re holding on to the word that God has promised you, but you’ve yet to see it fulfilled.
It has been said, “Delay is not denial.”
I agree.
However . . .
Warning: Delay may cause discouragement, distraction, and disappointment.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick. (Proverbs 13:12)
Living in the space between what your eyes can see and what your eyes cannot see is not an easy place to live. Because we live in a culture that expects immediate response and results, any delay becomes a challenge for us to manage. Patience is a forgotten virtue in our present world.
How can you push forward when your patience is wearing thin and your hope is fading away? Maybe you’ve waited weeks, months, or even years for the fulfillment of a promise from God or for some type of change in your current situation. The length of time may have caused you to settle for less than what God desires for you.
What now?
- Focus on the promise. What you focus on develops.
- Find encouraging people. Remove yourself from naysayers and surround yourself with yeah-sayers.
- Follow the path. Allow God’s Word to illuminate and elucidate your path.
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but there’s something more to that verse: “A desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12)
Maybe you’re living in Chapter 12 and you don’t have Chapter 21. You have a promise, but you’ve yet to see the prize. Day by day, you continue to hang on as hope slowly disappears. Maybe you’ve already walked away and given up.
Instead of giving up, let me encourage you to get up. It’s not over, and you’re not finished. If you’re still breathing, you’ve still got hope. God has not forgotten you.
He is faithful, and I’m . . .
Still Believing!
