Practice Patience Hebrews 6:13

When God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surly blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you." And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.



God keeps His promises but His timetable is very different from ours. We live in a fast paced society where we expect things to be done immediately. A funny line in "Runaway Bride" takes place as the bride steps on a Fed-Ex truck and someone asks the question, "Where is she going?" and the reply was, "Wherever it is, she will be there by 10:30 in the morning." God is not on our schedule and He is not concerned about impulses. He is concerned about strengthening our faith and our resolve to walk with Him no matter what.

God is not interesting in giving to us; He is interesting in growing us up. God made a promise to Abraham and because of that promise Abraham left his homeland and took off with God not knowing where it was that he was going or how long that journey would take. Abraham followed after God for 5 years and there was no son. He followed another 5 years and still there was no son. Another 10 years went by and Abraham had not been given a son. 25 years after he left his homeland as a 75 year-old man, God appeared to him again and said, "It is time for you to get your son."

My question is, was God faithful to his promise at 15 years? 20 years? It is easy to see that Abraham did not have his son and Abraham had done what God had asked him to do, plus some. He did sleep with Sarah's maid and she bore him a son as they tried to help God out. Was God faithful in His promises to Abraham? Sure He was!

When you and I face trying times in our lives, we have to hold onto God's promises for our lives and walk with Him knowing that those promises will be fulfilled. God has promised that He will never leave nor forsake us and He has promised that He will not let more come on us than we can handle. The storm may become pretty intense and it may seem as if you are going to be swept away and there are even times when that may be exactly what happens. However, our response has to be, "God is here with me and He will see me through this." For it is the practice of our patience that brings God's promises to us.

I am personally convinced that when we are tempted the most, the devil is trying to interrupt God's blessings in our lives. When temptation comes, we need to practice patience if we want to see God's salvation and His abundant blessings. Sometimes, it just takes a little longer for perfection to take shape. God knows exactly what we need and He knows exactly when we need it and He is never a day late or a dollar short! He is always right on time with His timetable!