Today I want to bring a cup of comfort to those of you who are still waiting on your promise.
I want you to know you don’t wait alone.
I wait, too.
We wait in exalted company.
There are some folks in the Bible that I have so much empathy and compassion for. They are the ones who bring me so much comfort.
I have a special heart-connect with those who are honored for waiting many years on a promise from God.
Abraham waited until he was an old man, and ditto his wife Sarah, who waited decades before they saw the promised child.
Moses did forty years, wandering through the wilderness, as God put him through His “shepherding course” learning how to deal with ornery sheep.
Joseph waited in a dungeon. Gideon waited in the bottom of a wine press.
The list goes on, and on.
If you have been waiting a long time for God to keep His promise, and your hope seems almost gone, you do indeed wait with the highly honored.
Hoping in God
Waiting is not easy–even when our hopes are high.
But waiting when our hope is all but gone?
That is the toughest waiting of all!
Nothing I know of in my Christian experience, tests my faith like waiting for many years on a promise that is now covered in dust and cobwebs–and yet, still has not come to pass.
This I know, hope can wear thin. Our hope sometimes struggles. Through our long years of waiting, we can look longingly at a calendar, while that calendar relentlessly marches on, with our promise unfulfilled.
In the Bible, Isaiah begins Chapter 40 with the words, “Comfort, yes, comfort my people,” says your God.”
As we chat, and sip our tea, I see eyes filling with tears, hearts wringing with unanswered prayers. I can almost hear some of you whispering, “Where is God? Why hasn’t He come? When will He perform His promise?”
I know.
Forty years and still counting
I often ask those same questions.
I wonder, “Was I wrong?
I ask, “God, was this promise not from You?”
I have watched forty years go by, waiting and wondering, “Why can’t my heart let go LORD?”
I want to let go.
Letting go of this hope can sometimes seem less painful than all this waiting, can’t it?
God’s promises: Comfort us in our waiting
When I am struggling with my waiting, I go to God’s word. There, I find the comfort that I need.
- I’m weary, exhausted with weeping. My throat is dry, my voice is gone, my eyes are swollen with sorrow, and I’m waiting for you, God, to come through for me. Psalm 69:3 TPT
- I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the one I love, waiting as long as it takes for him to rescue me. Only God is my Savior, and he will not fail me. Psalm 62: 5 TPT
- Here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Don’t give up; don’t be impatient; be entwined as one with the Lord. Be brave and courageous, and never lose hope. Yes, keep on waiting—for he will never disappoint you! Psalm 27: 14 TPT
- God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Numbers 23: 19 KJV
God gives us: Courageous Hope
I think Emilie is nodding in approval.
She knows for a certainty that God keeps His promises.
Here is our “gem” this week from Emilie’s, A Cup Of Hope,
God’s promises mean you always have something wonderful to look forward to.
I think she smiles down at us from the balconies of heaven, knowing all that is before us, and what we have to look forward to.
Her knowing is based on firsthand knowledge of how our trustful waiting and hoping makes Jesus smile.
Jesus is so GOOD!
God has performed so many of His promises in my life and I am so thankful.
I have seen, many of what I would call miracles, come to pass.
And though I still wait, (and hope) for things I believe God has promised, and many, many years have gone by, I know in those years–God has grown my faith, stamina, and endurance. He has taken away my timid heart and given me a courageous heart.
If my promise and my prophecy are from Him–I believe they will happen!
(Emilie smiles… and winks…)
She knows!
Our Fourth Cup
This week let’s take a cup of hope to a friend or neighbor who perhaps has been waiting a long time to see God perform His Word.
As we offer our hope and comfort to them, (and pray for them,) let’s remember that just being there, and quietly listening, brings hope.
Father,
We know how dearly you love us, and we are certain that if we hope in You, our waiting can not be in vain–for You do so many good things for us in the waiting.
And so we thank you, in Jesus name…
Because all the promises You give, are backed by the integrity of Your Word, and wrapped up with the red ribbon of Your grace. Amen.
* Emilie’s “gems” are shared with the permission of Harvest House Publishers. They are: Taken from: A CUP OF HOPE by Emilie Barnes, Copyright © 2000, Published by Harvest House Publishers
Photos courtesy of: Unsplash
My “Thanks!” and photo credits go to photographers: Marek Rucinski, Briana Tozour, Denny Muller, Denys Nevozhai, Douglas Hawkins, Morgan Sessions.
Women With Destiny 