Waiting On A Promise

Dear Church Family and Community,

 

This week I want to talk about waiting on a promise. What is the last thing you have truly waited for? Waiting is becoming a foreign concept in the instant gratification culture we live. When was the last time you got “fast food” and complained because they were too slow? Or the last time you were in a checkout line, and thought to yourself, “Why are these people so slow?” Add to this our increasing access to just about anything, and the idea of waiting does not seem to be something we are very fond of.

Waiting is also hard. It is hard not just because we have become seekers of instant gratification. It is hard not just because we have access to just about anything at our fingertips. It is hard because our needs are urgent. It is hard because waiting often exposes our real need for and reliance on God, and sometimes each other. Something not happening on our time is not our idea of fun. However, waiting on God can grow our faith and reliance on God, gift us needed guidance, and bless us with clarity.

I wanted to share about waiting this week, because in this week’s services, we will be continuing our Faith Builders: Lessons from Early Women of Faith series by looking at Sarah. We have grown very good at separating Sarah’s faith from Abraham’s great faith. We do this choosing to forget that God created and covenanted the promise to Abraham and Sarah. We also do this by choosing to forget that without Sarah Isaac wouldn’t have been born.

Sarah’s story is a great one for us to study and to hold on to. She teaches us how to wait, and how not to wait, on the Lord. She reminds us what it means to trust God completely, and that there are consequences when we choose to try and put our destinies in our own incapable hands and plans. Sarah reminds us that God knows the desires of our hearts, and that God works on His own time. Sarah teaches us that God has a great sense of humor, but lives to bring us true joy.

In preparation for the service this week, please take time to read and pray through Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-8. As you read, jot down times that you have waited on God. How did God carry you through? What was the result after your waiting? What did God teach you about trusting Him fully? Sarah learned that waiting built her faith and that God fulfills His promises. How has God built your faith through waiting?