In my previous post, I talked about my control issues. I always want to know what’s happening and how to control my circumstances in a fashion that appeals to me. Unfortunately, nothing goes according to how I think it should go. Such is life.
As I continue to grow in relationship with Jesus, He requires more and more trust of me. I feel like He also entrusts me with more. Each step of the way, I get little glimpses of what’s in store. It’s always a little blurry and I can’t make out any of the details, but if I squint my eyes, I can make out more and more of the complete picture.
The problem is that with each glimpse and promise I receive from the Lord, I go nuts. Not understanding that what I have is merely a piece and not the full puzzle, I set to work. Somehow I get the idea that there is something I can do in my own power to bring about the fulfillment of the promise that I am seeking. When things aren’t working out, I become disillusioned wondering if I ever heard the promise right to begin with.
The thing is that God doesn’t let me in on His plan so that I can achieve it by my own work or strength. He let’s me in on a plan that’s too big for me to comprehend and so beyond me that I could never accomplish it on my own, so that when the promise finally comes to pass there will be no doubt in my mind that all the glory belongs to Him.
I’m not alone in my struggle. Abraham and Sarah did the same thing. In Genesis 12, God makes Abraham a promise. At 75 years old and with no children, God tells Abraham that He is going to make Him into a great nation and that through His lineage all the people on the Earth would be blessed. It tells us that after receiving this promise, Abraham and his family relocate to Canaan. 10 years later the couple begins to get antsy. Doubt creeps in. Nothing has happened and their promise has gone unfulfilled. Sarah gets to thinking that maybe it’s time to take matters into her own hands. Maybe it is up to her to assist God in the process. You might know the story. Sarah gives Abraham Hagar, her slave, to sleep with and Ishmael was born. You can read up on all the details in Genesis 16 and 17, but Sarah’s strategy causes alot of heartache and pain. Tensions run high. Jealousy runs rampant. At the end of the day, Abraham and Sarah have a son, but they also find themselves in the midst of a complete disaster.
We are told that when Abraham is 99 years old, approximately 14 years after the Hagar debacle and 24 years after God gave Abraham His promise, the Lord appears again to Abraham. It was time for Him to set His plan into motion. It was time for God to do by His glory, His power and His strength what Abraham and Sarah could not. He was going to cause Sarah to have a son, even though she was old, like reallllllllllly old. Abraham would be the Father of many nations and God would keep His everlasting covenant between Him, Abraham and all of Abraham’s descendants. That means us. Through the lineage of Abraham, Jesus would be born, the Savior of the world.
God showed Himself completely faithful. He is the keeper of promises.
What are some of the promises that God has given you? Before you go into panic mode, plotting and planning over how to accomplish those things in your own strength, consider the faithfulness of God towards Abraham. Abraham had to wait many years before Isaac came along, but God’s purposes prevailed. He is always on time.
For me, all this means that I need to let go. I need to set my eyes on Him. I need to be conscious of His goodness, His faithfulness and His unchanging love for me. I need to realize that His plans for me are far greater than I can comprehend and I can’t even attempt to accomplish any of it on my own. I need to give Him the reigns. I need to lose control.
“But seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33
