If He Said It, He Will Do It!

 

"He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all-- how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?"

Maybe no one knows or perhaps everyone does but God knows. In fact, it's become your number one prayer request. And even if you haven't mentioned it that much, deep inside you want to. You desperately want to ask God to do this one thing for you but perhaps you don't because it's so precious that should you ask and not receive it, the disappointment would be overwhelming. After much wishing and praying the day comes when God gives you His word that He will do it! He is going to fulfill that desire of your heart. Tears of joy run down your face as you wonder in awe at God's love and kindness that He should give you such a wonderful promise. Faith fills your heart and thanksgiving your lips. But what you may not realize in that moment of ecstasy is that between God giving you a promise and Him actually fulfilling it is a four-letter word that no one looks forward to...time. And time can do a lot of things in our life, whether good or bad time will have an effect on us. But God's Word and promises stand firm in spite of it. So the question isn't "Will God fulfill His promise?" but rather "Will I wait long enough to actually experience them?"

God's name is at stake.

The psalmist wrote, "I bow before your holy temple as I worship. I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name." (Ps 138:2) Whenever God makes you a promise (which He always does to those in fellowship with Him), His own name is intricately attached to its fulfillment. What do I mean by that? Have you ever heard the phrase "your only as good as your word"? It means that when we don't keep the promises we make, others have no reason to trust or believe us. It's the same with God. The guarantee we have that God will fulfill His promises is His very name. During Biblical times, names meant much more than they do today. A person's name was a glimpse of their character. Take Jacob for example. The name Jacob means supplanter which simply means "to supersede (another) especially by force or treachery". Anyone familiar with Jacob and Esau's story found in Genesis 25 will understand that Jacob's name was quite accurate as we read further and find him deceiving his brother out of his birthright and later his own father out of the blessing. God's very name bears the weight of His character. All throughout Scripture, particularly the Old Testament, we find the names of God. Jehovah Nissi, Rapha, Shammah, Jireh, Shalom, and Sabaoth are a few examples. Though each name means something different, they all revealed a unique characteristic/trait of God's personality. What does this mean for us today? When we get to know God instead of just knowing about Him, we begin to rely on His character to believe the promises that would otherwise be impossible for us to believe. Knowing God is the greatest piece of truth to having a thriving relationship with Him. Knowing God allows us to trust Him even when everything seems to be going the opposite way. Knowing God helps us to continue walking with Him when all seems lost. We each need to make knowing God a priority in our lives. 

Confirmations, confirmations.

If you've ever made an online purchase, you would have noticed that soon after submitting the order, a confirmation email comes to your inbox providing you details of the transaction. This email serves as  proof of purchase between you and the merchant. It is a contract between the two parties that states your promise to pay and the merchant's to surrender the item purchased. In addition to this initial proof of purchase the merchant will also send you emails along the way to update you on the status of the order. These emails give the buyer the peace of mind that though they do not yet possess the item purchased, in time it will come! Interestingly enough, God does the same in our lives. We see this in the story of Abraham. God initially gave Abraham a promise of becoming a great nation in Genesis chapter 12:2 which says, "“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing". Yet He confirmed the same promise to him again in chapters 15, 17, and 18. Why did God find the need to repeat Himself on three separate occasions? Personally I believe that God always confirms the promises He gives us in order to strengthen our faith during times of uncertainty and doubt. What usually happens in our lives is that God gives us a promise and in that moment we are filled with faith but as the days, weeks, months and even years pass, many times our faith weakens (if we do not continuously feed it). Therefore God will give us  confirmations to let us know that His promise stands firm and in due season He will accomplish it. I believe that these confirmations show us the heart of God. How He not only makes us a promise but also walks with us even when we begin to doubt the word which was spoken. The promise may have been what got us started on the journey, but God's confirmations keep us going. 

The greatest gift. 

My eyes get watery whenever I meditate Romans 8:32. Take a few moments to slowly read and dwell on this Scripture. "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all-- how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?" I think many times in the midst of our own pain we forget the Father's suffering. Imagine for a moment the agony that the Father felt the day that His only Son hung on that cross. How intensely heavy His heart must have been. The Father saw and experienced first hand the physical and emotional torment His Son felt that day. Yet I believe that as He watched His Son from Heaven, God thought of each one of us and how this momentary pain would yield such an amazing reward...the forgiveness and redemption of each of us (Eph 1:7). The hardest thing that God ever did and will ever do was give up His only begotten Son to lead a humble life and painful death for our benefit. There will never be a greater expression of love than that which the Father showed more than two thousand years ago on Calvary's Cross. So what is your guarantee that God will fulfill that promise He gave you? Jesus. The fact that God did not withhold Jesus from us but FREELY gave Him to us is the greatest guarantee God gives that He will fulfill every single promise He's ever made to us. The most difficult job was already accomplished in Jesus. Every thing else that God has promised to do for us pales in comparison to that great work on Calvary! God still fulfills promises! And I know it's easier said than lived through but for this reason we have a great cloud of witnesses whose stories the Bible so vividly records. Stories filled with promises, great trials, yet ultimate victories. God came through for each and every one of them and will do so for each one of us as well. God will do what He promised. You have His word. That is the only guarantee you ever need. 

Final Thoughts...

Waiting for a promise can often be painful. There are days when your heart is full of faith and praise and others where you begin to doubt whether God really spoke to you or not. I know what that's like. But there's someone else that knows about this a lot more than you or I ever will...Jesus. The Lord knows a thing or two about waiting. In fact, He's been waiting over two thousand years to come back to Earth for a spotless bride without spot nor blemish. He's waiting for some to come home, waiting for others to change, and then there are those who He is waiting to meet for the very first time. Yeah, God knows what it's like to wait. That is why during your seasons and moments of pain you can come to Jesus with the full assurance that NO ONE KNOWS YOUR PAIN BETTER THAN HE. No one loves you more than the Lord and no one will ever understand you better than Him. So today I pray for you that in that place of pain you will seek and get to know Him better than ever before. The Lord loves you so. very. much. And there's nothing you could ever, ever, ever do to make Him love you any less!