Delays

“God also said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.’ Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?'” Gen 17:15-17 (NIV)

Can you imagine becoming a parent at age ninety or a hundred? That’s difficult to fathom. However, the greater challenge would be to desire parenthood and having to wait until you were almost a century old to realize the dream.

Abraham and Sarah had to learn to live with delays. God had promised to bless them and to make them into a great nation. However, they had to walk in obedience to God and wait for His timing.

Have you noticed how our personal timetable doesn’t always line up with God’s timetable? We tend to want our blessing now. We don’t usually “wait” very well.

God has a divine purpose in our delays. Sometimes delays are a result of poor choices we have made and sometimes a consequence of poor choices others around us have made. Either way, God can use delays to portray His grace. God has the final say doesn’t He? Nothing happens without God’s permission. If God allows a delay in your life, He will utilize the delay. Now rest in God’s timing. Entrust your life to Him.

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Pastor of Leadership and Pastoral Care