Learning to Wait upon the Lord

A Biblical prophecy is not a mere prediction. It is a promise made by God of the future. God is faithful to keep his promises, even though He may do so many years later. A test of our faith is learning to wait upon the Lord.



Abraham is known as the father of faith. He was 75 years old when he left Haran with the promise that God would bless him and make a great nation of him. [Gen. 12-1-4] While he was still childless, Abraham was promised that his descendants would be "as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered". [Gen.13:16] God made an unilateral covenant with Abraham that was unconditional. [Gen. 12-17] Years later Abraham was still childless. Yet God assured him that his descendants would come through his own body and that Sarah, his rightful and elderly wife, would bear his son:

" I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." ....[19] God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. Gen. 17:6-8,19

Naturally, Sarah laughed when she heard this pronouncement because she was 90 years old and her husband was nearly 100 [v17]. But, God was true to his word and Issac was born as promised. [21:1-7]. Thus, God began his creation with a miracle, for which he made Abraham wait for 25 years.

Why did God take so long? First, the long time frame would show that nothing is too difficult for the Lord and that with "God nothing will be impossible" [18:14; Luke 1:37]. Secondly, Abraham was being conditioned to believe and trust in God's promises. God is not so concerned with our comfort but with our character. Third, in the process of waiting upon the Lord, Abraham developed faith. Abraham " believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations". Romans 4:18]

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. [Romans 4:19-21]

God's timetable may be different than ours. God's promises may not always be filled immediately; but, they will be fulfilled eventually. It is with the eye of faith that we see his kingdom come.