Jeremiah 17:7-8(NIV)
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
God told Abram that he would make him into a great nation,
that he would be the father of many nations, and that his descendants would be
as numerous as the stars in the sky. (Genesis 12:2 and 22:17) His wife Sarai
became restless waiting on the promise of God and decided to ensure that God’s
Word would be fulfilled as promised. She told Hagar, her servant, to sleep with
Abram, and she conceived, bearing a son named Ishmael. Abram and Sarai did not
know God as El Shaddai, the One who would make them fruitful, so they produced
a son “of the flesh.” God’s promise to Abram still remained the same, that
Sarai would have a son in her old age. He promised a son of the “spirit,” and Sarai
bore a son named Isaac from whom the nation of Israel came forth.
Why do we fall into the trap of taking things into our own
hands?
I think it is because we do not have a full revelation of El
Shaddai, our fruitfulness. We must guard against the temptation to try to
fulfill God’s Word to us by ourselves. We might end up with Ishmael, a child of
the “flesh.”
Have you tried to make something happen that the Lord
promised would happen? As you wait on the Lord to fulfill His promises, there
may be things that He asks you to do, but remember to always rely on the Holy
Spirit to lead the way. So often I am tempted to make things happen that I
believe the Lord has promised. Waiting on the Lord and His timing always births
an “Isaac.” Doing things my way leads to an “Ishmael,” and
Ishmael was sent out to the desert. If you find yourself in the desert, ask the
Lord if you have not believed His word to fulfill His promise.
Choose today to
trust Him.
Thought for today:
What is has happened when I didn’t trust God to provide?
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