January 16th, 2022 – God’s Eternal Perspective
Experiencing God Devotional
Genesis 12:2 – I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
In Bible times, a person’s name represented his character; to know someone’s name was to know what the person was like. That’s why God changed the name of some when He transformed their character. For example, the Lord wanted to bless all the nations of the earth through Abram, yet Abram’s character was too weak for such a great task. God said He would make Abram’s name great so that He could make him a blessing to future generations. Then over the next twenty-five years, God developed Abraham’s character to match the name He had given him.
God sees your life from His eternal perspective. He will take whatever time is necessary to grow your character to match His assignment for you. If you have not received a divine commission lately, it may be that your character needs maturing. Are you impatient to begin your work before God has refined your character? A small character will fail in a large responsibility every time. Don’t be too hasty to get to the work. It took twenty-five years before God entrusted Abraham with his first son and set in motion the establishment of the nation of Israel. Yet God was true to His word, and thousands of years later people continue to be blessed by the account of Abraham’s life and by his descendant, Jesus.
How is God building your character? Do you sense He has a task for you that will require a far greater man or woman than you presently are? Will you yield to God as He works in your life to prepare you for your next assignment?
Blackaby, Richard. Experiencing God Day By Day (p. 17). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Pastor’s Thoughts
“It took twenty-five years before God entrusted Abraham with his first son and set in motion the establishment of the nation of Israel.”
You might say “James, that’s a weird sentence to go with for today’s word.” Years ago, I would have agreed with you. But today, not so much.
A couple of years ago, my wife said something that honestly got me thinking. And since she said it, I have not stopped thinking about what she said. I am not entirely sure where I stand on it, but I know that it has impacted me deeply these last couple of years.
I know what you’re thinking, “get on with it,” “what is it?”
She asked me if I thought that Abraham and Sarah would have had to wait less time if they had been more faithful to God. If they had not kept putting God’s promise in their own hands and instead chose to leave it in God’s hands would Isaac have come sooner? In other words, “Did Abraham and Sarah delay their promised blessing?”
I 100% believe that God gets His eternal will accomplished and nothing can get in the way of that. But I do believe that God has desires (you could even say gifts) for you and for me that He wants for us, but He is waiting on us to be at a place where we have shown Him and ourselves that we are ready for said gifts.
Don’t be like Abraham and Sarah and try to expedite God’s promised blessings. If you will be faithful in the smaller things, then in God’s timing, He will trust you with bigger things.
Have a blessed Sunday everyone! For those able, I hope you all have a wonderful day of worshipping Jesus with your church families.
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