Not Taking it Back!

 This week, I was thinking about Abraham and Sarah. They are our "faith" parents. Scriptures call Abraham the father of our faith. He believed what God told him beyond possibility and beyond hope. Don't we love to share the story of the promise of Isaac? He would be the one to continue to carry the promise to generations to come. Generations we are literally a part of by faith. We love a good ending, right? Especially one we get to live out! But it wasn't without human flaws. A story that looked like it might have failed due to the actions of mere humans, Sarah and Abraham.

We love our Bible heroes, don't we? But it's easy to forget that they were human just like us. They dealt with emotions, thoughts, fears, and struggles every single day, too. But God gave them a promise. The thing about God's promises is that they don't always make sense in our heads. We can't always figure them out or imagine how in the world He is going to do what He promised.

What God promised Sarah and Abraham was way beyond their comprehension. It literally was not possible in the natural. Nature don't work that way! Lol. Romans 4:3 tells us that Abraham believed God. But we know that there was more to the story, right?

When God's timetable didn't make sense to them, they concocted a plan. Sarah suggested that Abraham have relations with her maidservant, Hagar. Abraham was happy to oblige. :-) Ishmael is born. He was Abraham's son, too. That just meant God would bless him because of Abraham. But he wasn't the promise.

We look at that story and think about how they messed up. Maybe we shake our heads, wondering what in the world they were thinking, trying to manage God's promise. Sometimes, what God says or what is promised in the Bible just doesn't make sense to us. God gets that. He didn't change His mind because of their crazy choices. He still gave them Isaac! i

That right there blesses me so much! God didn't look at their inadequacies, their failures or how they tried to manipulate the circumstances to try and help Him out  - and say, never mind. He still gave them the promise! He's not a promise breaker - He's a promise keeper, even when we are not perfect. 

God knew they would grow impatient waiting on Him. God also knew Adam and Eve were going to sin. But He didn't change His mind and He didn't take anything back. He is so faithful.

Today, I'll remind myself that when the journey seems impossible, God's still got it in control. When I'm sure He has forgotten me, and it feels like He's left me hanging... He's still got it all under control. I may pull out that old hymn today and sing, Every Promise in the Book is Mine! Just to remind myself that He won't take a word of it back because my situation changed or doesn't look picture-perfect. I can trust that kind of faithfulness for one more day? How about you?

Check out my latest release. Command Your Morning part 2. This 31-day devotional is the second one in my series Command Your Morning. (Yes, I already started on part 3 - and you're gonna love it!) Take a 31-day journey through Psalm 119 as you practice setting your intention to point your heart at God each day. It's available on Kindle and Print. Check it out!