Grown up promises.

I suppose all of us feel like we are given promises from the Lord. Some promises are verbally spoken to us. Other times we simply feel the inner assurance of a promise. We latch onto these promises and cling to them with many emotions. Sometimes we hold on for dear life. Sometimes with patience. Sometimes with fragile hope.

As time goes by some of our promises die and we bury them unfulfilled, and maybe prematurely. May I encourage you to hold on to your promises until your promise grows up. Let me illustrate from the Bible.

Abram was 75 when we first meet him. He is a heathen. He lives in a land of idolatry. For reasons unknown to us, God singles him out and calls him. God instructs him to leave his familiar surroundings and everyone he knows and go to a land of promise.

His promise is born. His promise is a bit sketchy. It is undefined. It is hazy. It is a bit unnerving. But he responds and embraces his promise. He goes.

Farewell to all he has know for 75 years. Goodbyes to the family and the sneers of the doubters. He takes his family and father. He responds with partial obedience. He left Father’s house but he took father with him. So God waits patiently until father dies and then resumes the growth of the promise.

The next 100 years is most likely the most amazing 100 years in the history of our world. Abraham is now on the stage of our world for 100 years. During this 100 years he becomes father to three world religions. The Jews, the Christians and the Muslims. To this day he impacts over half the people on planet earth. Can anyone of us name any 100 year period that affects half the population of our world?

That is why we have to let our promise grow up! With a half born, half grown promise Abraham journeys on to the land God promised him. God says wherever your footprints land are the boundaries. It is a cloudy, uncertain, undefined, hazy promise. Exactly where is the boundary of my promise. Be patient Abraham, for our promises must grow up.

Events transpire and things happen. There are stretches of peace and accumulating wealth. There are times of conflict and war. There are moments and days and weeks of uncertainty. He meets Melchizedek, he fights wars, he separates from Lot, all with his promise still not grown up.

And then there finally comes a moment when his promise is grown! God says offer some animals three years old, and a couple of birds. While this man with only a half born promise and a thousand whys watches, God walks down the middle of the sacrifice and says this is the boundary of your promise! It starts at this river and goes north to such and such a place.

After years of waiting and a whole lot of living, the promise spoken years ago and miles away is finally all grown up!

May I encourage you today to hold on to your promise and just let it grow.

He that has promised is faithful!

Thanks for reading today.