Sometimes as humans, we might ask: “does God really care about me?” or “is God really going to take care of me?” or even, “what do I need to do so God’s will for my life is done?” I know I have asked questions like that. It can be hard to trust God when things do not go the way we expected them to. It is hard when we try to make plans and expect God to make them happen. We see this throughout the Bible, as God’s chosen people struggle to understand God’s way of doing things.
In the story of Abraham, in Genesis chapter 12, God promises Abram (at that point) in verse 2, that He will make him a great nation, and that He will bless him and make his name great, and through his family, all families of the earth will be blessed.
Now, Abram believed God, but did not understand how this would happen, and neither did Abram’s wife. In chapter 16, she has her husband sleep with her servant Hagar, because she believed she was too old to have a child. She was trying to make God’s promise come to fruition by her own understanding. And in chapter 18, verse 12, she straight up laughed at God when He again said she would have a child. She found it hard to trust in God’s way of doing things because of her preconceived notions of how things work. But God was faithful. Sara did have a child: Isaac. And from this, we were given the whole nation of Israel, from whom Jesus the Savior of the world came. God did not miss or fall short on any part of that promise. There are so many instances of God’s faithfulness in the Bible: Job, Joseph, Moses, David, Jonah; all who went through what seemed to be impossible circumstances, in which God made seemingly impossible promises. Yet, God stayed faithful to those promises every single time.
My wife and I have just recently seen God’s faithfulness firsthand. Eight years ago, we moved into a small house that we rented in the hopes of saving up money so we could buy our own home. We both worked hard and tried to save, but it always felt like something would happen and we would be right back to square one. Then, my mom got sick, and I stopped working to take care of her. We were down to Merissa being our only income provider. She started her own cleaning business and kept working at the local McDonalds, but we felt paralyzed with fear that we would not have enough to pay our bills, let alone save for a bigger house. But her business really took off in such a way that after my mom went into remission, I was able to return to school to pursue God’s call on my life for ministry. However, our family had grown, and we were still in need of a bigger house but had no means to get a loan yet. Then, we were told our landlords were wanting to sell this house, and we did not have much time to get out. We were upset to say the least. We tried working with a finance company, but we were denied. It felt very hopeless. But through leaning not on our terms, but trusting in God, we did not give up. We could not. We petitioned to him daily, especially when it was hardest to pray; we prayed the hardest we could in those times. I called my brothers in Christ, not looking for answers, but for a brother to pour my heart out to. And, like a miracle, a brother in Christ who is a loan officer, was willing to help us. Now, we are getting ready to close and buy the house of our dreams to raise our boys in. There is still a lot of work to be done, but God has already shown us he has a plan in place. We felt bitter towards the situation at first, but without it, we would have missed out on the blessing God had for us. Now there were many ups and downs throughout this whole process - too many for me to cover in one devotional - but the main point is: not only is God very capable of taking care of us, but He has better plans for us than we do. Sometimes it feels like he has left us high and dry, but we do not see time and situations like he does. Our view is so limited. So, in conclusion, if you find yourself waiting on God’s promises first, do not try to make it happen yourself. That never leads us in the right direction. Second, know that whatever your plan is, God’s is better. And third, it is ok to get upset. We are humans. Meditate on the fact that God has never not followed through on his promises. It might not be in our time, but God will always stay FAITHFUL. God bless.
Brenan Hindermann