The time between God’s Promise and its fulfilment

How a child of God should protect their faith in the interim.

God gives his children promises that will come to be in time. But the time between the promise and its fulfilment is very crucial in the life of a child of God. This is when God teaches, transforms, and shapes the vessel, to His perfect will.

I would like to bring to your attention 3 people from the Bible and their lives with respect to God’s promise to them and their fulfilment. We can learn from their life.

The first person is called “The Father of Faith” – Abraham.

God’s promises to Abraham are revealed in Genesis 12:1-3 'Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you, And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”'

Abraham was about 75 years old when he left Haran. Since we all know the story since childhood, I would keep it short here. When Isaac, the son of Promise, was born  Abraham was 100 years old. That’s a 25-year wait.

The only problem is Abraham yielded to Sarah’s pestering and hence was born Ismael. This was a failure on the part of Abraham in faith. Many a time children of God get vexed because of the waiting for the fulfilment of the promise, that we do things not pleasing to God leading to long-term adverse effects. This one mistake of Abraham has created an adversary that is still at war with the descendants of Isaac even today.

The second person in this line is King David. A man called by God as “The one after My heart”. Samuel anointed him to be the King of Israel when he was under 20 years old. Some scholars say he was somewhere between 15 – 17 years old. However, we know one thing for sure, his family – all brothers were conscripted in the army, while David was not. The minimum age in Israel at that time to join the army was 20. Hence, we can be certain that David had not attained 20 years of age.

David ascended the throne first as King of Judah when he was 30 (II Samuel 5:4). That’s a 10 to 15 year wait that David had to endure. In this period, David lost faith, joined with the Philistines, and lived with them, telling plenty of lies to King Achish. He has stopped enquiring to the Lord – this is akin to many children of God stopping prayer and doing things on their own.

The last person I would like to bring to your notice here is Joseph. Joseph had been revealed through dreams that one day his parents and siblings would bow down to him. He was 17 years old when he got the promise, but he was elevated by Pharoh when he turned 30. That is a 13-year wait. However, we find that Joseph kept himself clean and did not deviate from the path that God allowed in his life.

We do not find any instance of him trying to take shortcuts, or doubting the promise he had and trying to take his own path like Abraham did. What a journey that would have been.

Let us strive to live a life like Joseph’s, trusting that God’s promises will be fulfilled in their time. Joseph held unwavering faith, and when his promise came to pass, he carried no baggage of unresolved struggles. In contrast, Abraham faced an adversary for his “son of promise,” and King David, though a man after God’s own heart, struggled with many setbacks and moments of weakness throughout his life.

The period between the promise and its fulfilment is when God shapes you to retain the blessings and not lose it midway.

Praise the Lord.

Glory be to Jesus.