This week I was reminded of Abraham and Sarah's story in Genesis and the amount of time that it took for God to fulfill a promise He had for them.
Abraham, 75 years old - God calls him to leave his family; promises that he will become the father of many nations (Genesis 12:1-3)
Abraham agrees and takes his wife and nephew with him (Genesis 12:4-5)
Abraham is called to move again and God reminds him of the promise He made back in verses 1 through 3
Abraham, roughly 85 years old - about ten years pass and Abraham questions God's promise as it hasn't been fulfilled yet; he then tells God that he has a plan of his own to fulfill the promise faster (Genesis 15:3)
For the third time, God reminds Him that he is going to be the father of many nations and Abraham "believed the Lord" (Genesis 15:6)
Only one chapter later, do we see Sarah decide that God won't be fulfilling the promise after all and she and Abraham agree to take matters into their own hands (Genesis 16:1-3)
Abraham, 99 years old - God appears to him and says to serve Him faithfully and live a blameless life and again, reminds him of the "countless descendants" (Genesis 17:1-2) he will have.
Abraham and Sarah are once again told that in the next year, Sarah will have a son (Genesis 18:10). At this point, Sarah LAUGHS in disbelief (Genesis 18:12).
As the Lord promised, they had a son, Isaac. Genesis 21:2 says, "She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would."
Read that again, "at just the time God had said it would." Although this week's story centers around patience of an heir being born into a family, I want to encourage ANYONE OUT THERE WAITING ON SOMETHING FROM THE LORD. Whether you're waiting on a new job, finances to improve, a health scare to go away, a restored relationship, a renewed sense of hope, a spouse, a college offer; GOD IS IN THE WAITING. It's going to feel much easier to take matters into your own hands as you wait - trust me, I've been there, it felt hopeful in the moment, but still left me depending on the Lord for the final answer - which I am still waiting on.
And let me be clear, we aren't owed an answer to anything we ask for. But we do owe it to the one and only that laid his life down for us to put our hope, and trust, and belief in Him that He will make things happen at the right time.
Let's go into this week with a renewed hope that God sees us, loves us, and has not forgotten us.