Part 2: Trust that God Brings His Promises to Pass
Every individual is incredibly unique. We all have our likes and our dislikes. There exists within each of us a desire for what we think will make us happy. Some might argue that if a person likes race cars, has a penchant for speed, and aspires to be a race car driver, it’s because they very likely learned it from someone close to them with the same love for fast cars and speed. That certainly might be part of it, but the largest part of what drives us is the destiny that lies deep within us all. This destiny was uniquely crafted by God, and it resides at the core of our very being. It is baked in everything we do and was orchestrated according to Heavenly Father’s divine Will and Plan for every individual. We saw this very clearly in the life of Abraham.
Our Heavenly Father doesn’t do random. He predestined and chose us to be His very own. Ephesians 1:11(NLT) tells us, “Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.” We are united with Christ. We share in his inheritance, and it is in him that we live, move, and have our being. We didn’t just pop out of nowhere. We were predestined because God chose us way before we entered our mother’s wombs. There isn’t anything that our Heavenly Father doesn’t know. There’s nothing that you and I did in the past, are doing today, and will do in the future, that is a surprise to God; He knows it all. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 6:8(NLT), “For your Father knows the things you have need ofbefore you ask Him.”
Abraham was not a perfect man. He, nor Sarah, were without sin, but Abraham’s destiny was to receive the promise of God that he, Abraham, would be the father of many nations. This promise was right up Abraham’s alley, because the desire for a family was deeply embedded in his heart. It was a part of who he was, and God made sure of this. If Abraham had no interest in having a son to continue his legacy, if he had no desire to become a father, then the promise God made to him might not have meant as much. If he didn’t really, really want to be a biological father, perhaps he would not have thought it to be worth his while to leave his home. He may not have been motivated to travel a great distance to the land God promised him and go through the ups and downs he and Sarah endured. But because the desire was so strong in Abraham’s heart, and he considered being a dad a treasure of a lifetime, he was thrilled with the promise God made him. It was part of his motivation to continue in faith.
Abraham’s desire was part of God’s Plan, just as many of our desires are a part of God’s Plan as well. Heavenly Father doesn’t make mistakes, and He leaves nothing to chance. Like Abraham and Sarah, and the other Great Cloud of Witnesses to the walk of faith, we should never give up hope. We should have confidence that our earnest desires were planted in our hearts by the Lord, and He will guide and help us see them through. He tells us the exact approach for the manifestation of our desires in Hebrews 12:1 (NLT). It says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
Heavenly Father’s encouragement is to strip off every weight that hinders our momentum and stamina. In order to strip off the thing that holds us back, we first have to recognize it as a weight. God has given each of us a race to run. Like Abraham and Sarah, everything we need to run our races is baked in. We are not random individuals, we’re here for God’s purpose. We’re here to run the race of life. Heavenly Father would not have given you a race that you are incapable of running and winning. So, we each have our marching orders, but sometimes, stuff gets in the way. We get distracted and lose pace.
We have our own personal agendas. As we read the accounts in the Old Testament Book of Genesis regarding Abraham’s and Sarah’s lives, we see that they too had their own agendas about how to proceed as well. Abraham concocted a strategy of sin by telling Sarah to deny she was his wife. It was a lie they used to support Abraham’s fear that God would leave him exposed and allow him to be killed because of Sarah’s extraordinary beauty. He, being old, thought more virile and powerful men would want to destroy him to have Sarah for themselves. On two occasions that are mentioned in God’s Word, Abraham and Sarah lied in this way, but it was not GOD’s way. He had promised to protect them, but they didn’t believe Him, and therefore, this sin had to be confronted as the weight that it was. They had to deal with it before Isaac, their miracle son, could be born.
God’s Will and Plan considers it all, because our God knows everything. We are not perfect individuals. We’re prone to mistakes, and we make a lot of them, but none of us is able to alter God’s Will and Plan from going forward. Proverbs 19:21(NLT) says, “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” God made Abraham a promise the he would be the father of many nations. This He promised to an old man that was way passed child-bearing years. God has made us many promises as well. He promised to be our Provider and Protector, and to take care of all our needs. We may not fully believe in God’s provision and protection the way we should, but through the record of Abraham, we can know with confidence that God will walk with us. Like Abraham, we have a purpose to fulfill. If we trust the Lord with all that we are, God will help us answer His call. He will sharpen our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, so that we witness the fulfillment of His promise.■
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Faith of Abraham, Part 2: Trust that God Brings His Promises to Pass”, written for SMS Member Services.com Copyright© 2023.