Day 21: When the Promise Takes Longer than Expected

If the title doesn't say it, I don't know what will. Have you been waiting on a promise from the Lord to be fulfilled and are you still waiting? Have you said to yourself, after a battlefield of praise and worship, soaking the floor with tears, fasting, praying, believing, "God, I feel it! Here it is! My breakthrough is here! Your promise to me is here!" And then you find yourself in an even longer season of waiting? And then you're like, "Okay God, what was that about?" Been there too. I'm still there honestly.

Around this time last year, when time was fresh and the future felt so wide open and exciting, excited for the unknowns rather than grieving over them, I would talk so expectantly and excited for what God was about to do, believing I would receive ______ or this promise would be fulfilled right then and there... and could God do that right then and there? Absolutely, He can do anything. But I found the Lord taking me on a longer journey of awaiting the things He spoke over me so clearly. And now I'm here, and honestly, it can be very discouraging at times... wondering if I did something wrong along the way to cause the waiting to prolong, wondering if I could pray harder, fast longer, do something more... When all He asked me to do was to simply be and to trust Him, even when it doesn't make sense to me.

When the promise takes longer than expected, we often think we are being punished for something or that we must do more on our own to try and get that promise in our controlling hands. But God isn't making us wait to be mean, He isn't asking us to try and do more things... If we are waiting, even far longer than expected, it is because whatever God wants to do in us must be done in the waiting. If we were just given everything we wanted at the very moment we wanted it, would we appreciate it and care for it as deeply? And yes, I absolutely believe that and know that God can give what we ask of Him immediately, but I also know that He is sovereign, good, and all-knowing... He sees what we cannot and knows what we know not. He is not a cruel God, dangling goodness in front of us just to snatch it away... His ways are kind, His ways are good, His ways are for the good of those who love Him.

You're not alone if you feel like God has called you into a prolonged season of waiting. You're not abandoned, God hasn't forgotten you-- no. He is being intentional with you, with the good things He wants to do and bless you with in your heart and life. No matter the circumstance, no matter the time frame, no matter the situation, the frustration, the wondering, and questions know that you never have to wait to run into the arms of the Savior. When the promise takes longer than expected, expect for more than you asked for... but in the meantime, and even long after you've received the promise, find refuge and contentment in the only place you will truly find it--- in the arms of the Promise Keeper.

"But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him." Jeremiah 17:7

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phillippians 1:6

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9

“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed." Joshua 23:14

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CG